


It Don't Bite

by is_a_bell



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/F, Fluff, Haikyuu!! AU, Light Angst, M/M, Magic-Users, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Neighbors, Vampires, Were-Creatures, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-02-08 05:07:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 81,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21470548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/is_a_bell/pseuds/is_a_bell
Summary: Akaashi has never had an interesting life, but it all changes when he moves into the city and meets Bokuto, his neighbor who also happens to be a vampire.Now his life is full of mythical creatures, magic, and a weird stalker that could make his world become even more twisted.(Inspired by Suguru's vamp AU on Tumblr)
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Bokuto Koutarou/Daishou Suguru, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 36
Kudos: 171





	1. Packing Blankets

"I think it's time for you to move out, Keiji"

From all the people Akaahi has known throughout his life, he never expected his mother to be the first to say those words to him. They were eating dinner together, just the two of them since his brother has been on a trip with his girlfriend for almost a week, it's been a lonely week for Akaashi's introverted ass. Eating his mom's onigiri always made him feel at home though, and eating with her for the first time in a while is the highlight of his week. Having a widowed mother who works the night shift as a nurse makes his house feel lonelier than it should on his non-working hours, but it makes Akaashi treasure the little moments he has with her even more.

The moment he is living at this exact moment makes him feel more attacked than at home though. He takes a sip from his water to then acknowledge what his mother just told him.

"What do you mean by 'it's time'? Hiro lives here as well."

He takes another sip of water to avoid looking at his mother in the eye, his glass is almost empty because of this tactic he has decided to use to avoid looking at his mother and talking to her about this exact topic he has been dreading for a while. It's not usual for him to avoid eye contact, but he knows the look she is giving him, a look he makes as well according to a few of his previous classmates that have met his mother. Akaashi feels her glare soften for a second, followed by a sigh. He dares to glance at her dark teal eyes, the only physical characteristic he shares with her. The shape of his face, his hair, even his hands according to his mother, are identical to his father's.

His mother looks at him with an unreadable expression for a second, but then her welcoming warmth covers her features and her shoulders relax as if she didn't even notice they were tense.

"It's not like I'm kicking you out, it's just-" she takes a breath, Akaashi can tell that she has been thinking of this for a while by the way she is not as straight forward as she always is when talking to her sons. "You're barely out since you graduated college, and I understand that most of your friends live further in the city so you can't hang out with them so often, but I want you to, I don't know, go out more? Live a little more of your beautiful young years?" She looks at his face and her small smile falls to a more 'done with your shit' glare "You are not taking this seriously are you"

Akaashi crosses his arms lightly, not in a defensive manner but to stop his fingers from fiddling, an action he knows his mother doesn't like very much. "You're just trying to evade telling me that you are kicking me out"

Her glare turns more playful for a second and then she smiles innocently "Technically, yes."

Akaashi sighs and looks down, a little laugh escaping his lips as he dares to look up at her again. She still has that innocent smile plastered on her face. Oh no, she is planning something.

"You already have it all figured it out, don't you" Her smile widens as the laugh he had let escape before comes up to his lips again but louder, startling his mother for a second but then she lets out an airy laugh as well. "I knew you wouldn't tell me this if you didn't have it all planned already."

"Well yeah, I know you like to plan things yourself and hate surprises, so I decided to piss you off a little one last time before you get out of this house after all your hibernating."

Akaashi tightens his crossed arms on his chest and looks down again, an unwelcoming warmth covering his face. He opens his mouth to protest against her statement but her mother beats him to it. "Do not try telling me that going to work counts as going out because it does not." She smiles triumphally, knowing she won against him this one time. Akaashi lets out one last sigh and inclines his head towards his mother, signaling that she can talk about that plan she already has all figured out. The smile that covers her face widens even more if possible, how can she smile so much and so wide is a mystery Akaashi will never get the answer of.

"Okay, so a friend from work told me his son just bought a little apartment building in the center of the city. It's a little old, but he managed to fix all the bigger problems himself and has dedicated this past year to make it look all pretty so that people can live on it. He just finished the first part of the project and guess what." She makes a little pause as if waiting for Keiji to reply, even if she is aware that he will not. After her dramatic pause, she lifts her hands as if saying 'ta-da'. "And I managed to get you one of the apartments there!" She is now shaking her hands, jazz hands are not something Akaashi appreciates on this exact occasion.

"Wait, so you already got me an apartment?"

Her smile falls and the done expression covers her features again. "Were you even listening to me? Yes, I did get you an apartment, and before you start asking, it is affordable and near your workplace, you will not have to travel for more than an hour to get to the city and to work!" That 'ta-da' moment comes again, without jazz hands but Akaashi still despises the feeling it causes on his stomach.

He lets himself think about it for a second. Living in the center of the city is not that bad of a thing. Yes, there are big amounts of people there and a lot of noise 24/7, but it's a pretty great place to live since his workplace and favorite shops are located there. The pollution though. He could wear a mask when it feels too much as he does when he goes to work on the tourist season. And most of the time he is home, which is not that long, he is alone, so it wouldn't be such a change from dynamic. His mother is still leaving details aside, he knows this, such as neighbors, in which part of the city exactly is this apartment building located and the actual cost of the rent, but he could ask for it later.

He looks back at his mom, who is now looking at her cold teacup as if it has insulted her some way. She probably feels his attention on her because she turns to look up at him, an expectant look on her face. The corners of his lips lift a little to form a small smile, he then nods at her slightly. She immediately understands and her way-too-wide smile is back, her eyes glinting with what looks like hope and excitement, he does not know what to take from that. She proceeds to start rambling about how she already visited the place and it looks pretty nice and the perks of living in the center of the city instead of the outskirts of it, and oh boy is he already regretting this.

\----------

This is not what Akaashi imagined when his mother told him that he was moving into an old remodeled apartment in the center of Tokyo.

It's on a not so busy part of the city, which is good since he does not appreciate the noise that is constantly covering the place. But the street is so hidden that no matter how many people he asked he could not find the building for half an hour until an old lady showed him where it was. She was going in that direction apparently, to a coffee shop right beside the brick building. The windows of the shop were pitch black, which made him a little skeptical about the direction of the place, but as soon as he saw the sign his oh-so-dear mother had described a million times he knew it was the right place.

The sign pinned to the worn wooden door is not that fancy, it's actually a piece of wood with a painting of a tree with what looks like crows flying off the branches at the top. It's a poor drawing as if made in a rush, but it's not that bad if you stare at it from the other side of the street.

Akaashi looks at the five-story building, the bricks look a little worn and dirty in many places and there are some creeper plants going up through different parts of the building, but the balconies with metallic black railing make it look a little better. The first three floors look cleaner than the last two, where some railings are broken and the windows have plastic or paint from what he can see from down here, probably still remodeling. There is one balcony with blackened windows that caught his attention for a second, but he paid it no mind.

The building is squished between two smaller ones, at the right side there's the coffee shop with the mysterious black windows just like the apartment he saw, and on the other side, there's what looks like a bar or restaurant, almost empty for what it seems. Across from the street where he stood seconds ago, there's a pharmacy, all white and bigger than he expected. He should go and see if they have any of his medication later.

Akaashi takes one last look at the many balconies that seem to fall on top of his head and decides to knock on the door. He declined the option his mother gave him of getting the keys before, he wanted to know how the owner would treat him even before moving in. He doesn't want to just suddenly walk into the apartment complex without even meeting the person who is kindly letting him stay there. His mother did say it was a man near his age, so what he can do now is hope is not a prick who yells and does not understand the meaning of personal space, he hates those type of people.

He did not expect what came next thought.

A man with grey hair and a very adorable mole under his left eye opens the door with one of the kindest smiles he has seen. He has a shirt and a baggy overall, both covered in white paint, some of it on his hands as well.

"Hi!" He smiles a little more, making Akaashi's gay insides quiver before such beauty.

"Hello" Akaashi's hands immediately go to fiddle with themselves, his fingers on a tangled anxious mess even before he can stop himself. "I'm Akaashi Keiji, I believe this is Sawamura's apartment building?"

The man smiles with his teeth now, and Keiji has officially being blinded by an angel. "Oh yeah! Daichi told me you were moving in today!" He is about to outstretch his hand but hesitates, looks at them and decides to give him a wave and a sheepish smile instead. "I'm Sugawara Koushi, but just call me Suga please."

Akaashi lifts one of his hands a little to return the gesture. "Pleasure to meet you Suga-san"

Sugawara chuckles a little, "Just Suga is alright." He steps aside and opens the door a little more to let him inside. "Step in, and please ignore the disaster on the other side of the room. We had a little accident yesterday and had to repaint the wall, but don't worry the smell doesn't get past the first couple of stairs since its already drying."

As the man turns around to take something to clean his hands, Akaashi takes a look around the entry room and discovers that it's pretty simply decorated. Beside the door, there's a floor mat and a vase that he assumes is for umbrellas or something. There are two doors, one on the opposite wall and another on his right side. The door to the right leads to what looks like an office. There's a small window on the wall which makes it able to look inside, where books and papers lay all around. The other door is closed, but of what he has already been told by his mother, it leads to a salon for events that looks towards a small yard. On the remaining wall at his left, there is an open metal door that leads to the stairs. Wooden stairs as he can see, Akaashi hopes they don't creak so loud.

Sugawara, after tidying a little more so that they can step on the clean floor, turns to him again and smiles that warm smile of his. "I'll go up and call Daichi so that he can give you your keys and a little tour. Just wait here for a sec." He then turns around and sprints upstairs, the creaking is not as bad as Akaashi thought, thankfully.

Without company and nothing else to do, Akaashi takes his phone out and texts his mom to tell her he arrived. She immediately responds even if she started her early shift already, asking him what he thinks of the apartment, if he has been in and if he has met any neighbors yet. Akaashi tells her that he is still on the entrance waiting for the owner, and they chat a little until he hears steps coming from upstairs and tells her that he'll text her after they give him the keys and the tour of the place. He locks his phone and looks up just to see Suga come back with a broad tan man that is also covered in paint, but in grey one and he is not as messy as Sugawara. His shirt is tight against his chest and arms, which makes his slight gay crisis from before make sirens sound on his head again as if a thousand alarms were telling him 'hottie alert! cutie alert! you'll-die-from-gayness alert!', not the best line of thought at this moment.

The tan man, with brown spikey short hair and brown welcoming eyes, walks towards him as if brought out of a photo shoot. He smiles at him and Akaashi is immediately dead. "Hey! Akaashi, right?" He nods, not trusting his voice in the presence of this walking gods and takes the man's hand, getting a little startled but not surprised at his strong grip. "I'm Sawamura Daichi, but just Daichi is okay." Akaashi thinks back to Sugawara's similar words at the same time the grey-haired man chuckles under his breath, probably thinking the same.

"Thank you for letting me stay here." And of course, that is the first thing that comes to mind. Stupid brain.

Sawamura smiles as warm as Sugawara and Akaashi immediately think they spend too much time together or probably have known each other for a long time since those smiles are way too similar and generate the same feeling on Akaashi's gut. At that moment Sugawara joins them properly by standing beside Sawamura, who loops an arm around the man's waist and directs that same warm smile towards him for a second before turning to Akaashi. And just like that Akaashi knows that his homo ass will die alone.

"If you want to I can give you a small tour of the place before I give you your apartment. We can sign the papers upstairs if that's okay with you?"

"Yeah, that would be great." Akaashi's fingers now ache a little, he hadn't even noticed that he was pinching his joints. He unlaces his hands and puts them on his jacket's pockets.

"Great! Koushi could you take the things to his apartment and check that everything is alright up there?" He makes a face that Akaashi cannot understand, him being more distracted by how the man just called the other by his first name so sweetly, reminding him again that he is as single as a pringle.

Sugawara makes a little pout at the mention of his name, but when noticing the face his what-Akaashi-assumes-is boyfriend is making, his mouth opens on a little 'o' shape and he turns towards Akaashi. "If you'll excuse me." Sugawara then leaves them and enters the office at the side, probably in search of the rental contract.

Sawamura then proceeds to walk towards the other door in the room, the wall Sugawara was painting before he came in. He explains some things about the light sometimes going out at night, mostly if it's raining outside which has been happening a lot, but that they were looking into the problem. They maneuvered their way around the newspaper on the floor and the painting supplies until they get to the door. Daichi opens the door the exact same moment Akaashi hears who he supposes is Sugawara literally sprint upstairs.

They enter the room, which is wide with white walls and a high ceiling, dark wood boards as the floor. They shine as if new, which they probably are, as they walk to the other side of the room where tall glass doors lead to the garden. The garden itself it's not that wide, but it's not small either. It only has grass and a few soil patches here and there. Daichi explains to him that they haven't really fixed the garden for now, mostly focused on the remodeling of the main parts of the building.

"I could help out here if you let me, I know some things about gardening."

Sawamura looks a little taken aback for a moment until he smiles a little when he notices Akaashi's uneasiness. "Yeah, that would be great, thanks. We actually had one of your neighbors offer the same thing about two days ago when he came out here. You should talk to him to see what you can do together to bring a little life to this dumpster."

They walk back inside and head towards the stairs. They creak as Akaashi noticed before, but not because they are old, more like they are new, he notices by inspecting them further while walking up. They probably changed them not so long ago, so they hopefully won't creak in a few weeks. Looking up he discovers the bottom of the next flight of stairs, and as they finish going up he sees to his left the little hallway with the apartment doors.

Akaashi gets taken out of his thoughts as Sawamura stops midtrack and his nose hits the man's broad back. He immediately grabs his nose and rubs it a little to make the pain go away as Sawamura gains his balance after the collide and turns around, apologizing multiple times and checking Akaashi's face for any damage.

"Oh my god I am so sorry Akaashi, there was a big ass moth that passed in front of me and I got startled I'm so sorry-" His hands hover over his face as if he wants to check his nose but doesn't know if he is allowed to be closer to the other man's face. Akaashi lifts his other hand and that's when he stops talking, but the worry doesn't leave his face.

"I'm alright don't worry. And it was an accident, there's no need to apologize." He pulls his hand away from his nose and subtly checks it so that there is no blood there. There's none, thank God. He looks back to the worried man and tries to send him a reassuring expression. "I'm alright."

Daichi sighs and looks like he is about to complain, but turns around and keeps on walking. Akaashi waits for a second to then follow him to the first floor of apartments, where the other man explains that all are taken. Per floor, there are three apartments, plus a little storage room right beside the next flight of stairs.

They go to the next floor, where Akaashi's apartment is. His is the one in the center, the one at the very end is the one with the blackened balcony windows now that he thinks about it.

"Hey, Sa- um, Daichi?" The man turns around mid explanation and lifts an eyebrow at Akaashi's hesitance of saying his name just like that. It will be some time before he gets used to saying it just like the man prefers. "I noticed some blackened windows on this floor. Does somebody live there or are you remodeling the apartment?"

Daichi's face looks confused until in follows Akaashi's gaze, landing on his neighbor's door. His shoulders tense up for a second and he is about to say something when Suga appears from the said apartment. He closes the door quietly and jumps when he turns around and meets both gazes. He meets Daichi's for a second and they seem to have a conversation in over three seconds before turning to look at Akaashi.

"Sorry, I was just checking on a friend." His smile seems a little tense for a moment but before Akaashi can read more into that expression, it turns more sincere as he takes something out from his back pocket. A pair of keys. "So, Akaashi! Ready to move in officially?" He dangles the keys, making them make a little 'clink' sound before Daichi snatches them from his hands and glares at him.

"I'll show him the apartment and take care of the contract. YOU go and clean up downstairs and yourself."

Suga pouts at his words and crosses his arms over his chest. "You're dirty too so that's unfairness."

"Yeah but I'm the owner, you're not. Now go." Suga doesn't move. "Please." The man smiles and skips towards the stairs as Daichi sighs a little too fondly at his boyfriend and then turns to look at the floor as he shakes his head with a little laugh. Akaashi smiles softly at him, he can tell the man is totally smitten.

Daichi finally looks up at him and noticed his gaze, which makes him smile a little with a pinkish color on his cheeks. He turns to the door and fiddles with the keys until he finds the one he wants and opens the door.

(A/N: The layout of the apartment looks like [this](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/501166264763103984/?lp=true) in case my next (extremelly long) description doesn't make it clear)

"The keys with the blue sticker are the ones that open this door, if you want to we can keep the spare one on the office downstairs in case something happens to the other one. If you want to keep both keys is alright as well." He then steps inside and holds the door for a second to let him in, he then closes the door and starts showing him around. There is a door directly at their right, which is a small bedroom/studio, and another at the left, a storage room. While Daichi opens the doors to give him a little view of the rooms he keeps on talking. "The key with the red sticker is the one that opens the storage room on the hall outside and the one with the green sticker is the one that opens the door downstairs. The balcony has no lock, but if you want to install one just tell me and I'll come and do it myself."

Akaashi mumbles a thank you as they walk down a two-meter hall in front of the door which leads to the dining room and living room space, on that little hallway is where the door to the bathroom is. They get to the living/dining room, where space is a little smaller than he thought, but if the furniture he bought with his mother fills too much space he can put it on the studio since that room is empty for now.

He takes a look around the place, some furniture already there but its mostly covered in cloth or plastic wrap since they are all either new or from back home. The walls look freshly painted with a light gray color that is almost white.

The kitchen is next to the little hall's entrance, and at one side of the room, there is a door which leads to his bedroom. There are two glass doors on the wall next to his bedroom door, where the balcony is visible. Daichi announces him that there is another door that leads to the balcony in his room.

"The other door is smaller, but both lead to the balcony which is not divided, do you want to check out the balcony or would you like to sign the papers now?"

Akaashi looks outside and realizes he is tired as hell, the balcony can wait. "Let's sign the papers"

Sawamura smiles and guides him to the dining room table, where some papers he didn't notice before lay on top of a box. Sugawara was probably the one who left them there before going to check out on his mysterious neighbor, or so he claimed. That statement, accompanied by the weird black windows he saw earlier, should make him be a little more aware of where he is moving into and who surrounds him on his new home, but he prefers to worry tomorrow morning when his soul is not about to leave him and move into the depths of hell from how tired he has been feeling this past days.

A few minutes later, after reading the contract over, Akaashi signs and finally gets the keys handed to him. "Congratulations on your new apartment!" Sawamura collects all of the papers he needs and they shake hands before Akaashi leads him to the door and is finally left alone. He walks back to the sofa, where he lays down between some boxes and finally, FINALLY, manages to rest.

After two weeks of reorganizing all the information his mother gave him and going from one side of the city to another for all that he needed, he has officially moved into his new apartment. His eyes close just as the sun begins to set, and not even the faint snores of his neighbor or the box hurting his back are going to stop him from the much-deserved sleep he gets that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the name of the chapter is a song by Eels which is about moving out/in and starting again!
> 
> I was thinking of giving each chapter the name of a song that relates to what the chapter is about and if I keep that up I'll create a playlist or something idk
> 
> Make sure to check out Suguru's [Tumblr blog](https://suguru.tumblr.com/), and if you want to chat here's [mine!](https://is-a-bell-tmblr.tumblr.com/)


	2. Just In Time

The worst days at work are the ones when Tendou has a shift. It's not that he doesn't like the guy, he is just way too energetic for this time of the day.

"Hey Shakespeare, we need someone to help Oikawa at the back. He doesn't know how to distinguish books that are supposed to go into the maternity section with the ones that belong in the kid's section."

"That happened ONE TIME Satori, JUST ONCE!" Oh, Oikawa also has a shift tonight. Akaashi can already feel the headache start to build at the back of his head even if he just entered the book store for his shift.

You'll see, being an English literature major with a minor in linguistics gives his resume a good look. But not a good enough one since he decided to take the linguistics minor instead of the education one, so the schools he was interested in did not let him teach to their students. And that's how he ended up working at a book store. Don't get him wrong, he loves working here, and they pay him well. But days like this one are the ones that make him regret even studying literature at university.

He's been working here for almost a year, having started a few months after he graduated and after all his other work options got thrown into the trashcan. His first shift ever was with this pair, and he didn't see them for a while until they caused a little accident with the coffee machine a few months ago and now they are always being changed of schedule, most of the time they don't have shifts together but somehow they manage to match with Akaashi, may it be accidentally or not he does not know.

Even with all the commotion they create, Fumiko-san refuses to fire them since Oikawa is one of the best sellers they have, mostly because of the amount of flirting and luring he performs for the costumers, mostly with foreign people. And Tendou is like a son to Fumiko-san, she's a friend of his mom so she took care of him when his parents traveled for work, which happened a lot according to the lanky man.

"Oikawa-san, could you please go and help with the donated books box at the back." He has a plan to get rid of both their presence so that he can drink his coffee in peace.

"Why me! It's Satori's turn to do it. I'm on coffee shop duty today."

Tendou's gasp is louder than the fan at the entrance, and Akaashi knows he will not be able to get rid of this argument for a little while. "That is not true!" Tendou proceeds to walk to the counter where Akaashi is and take out the notebook where they keep track of their change of shifts. With the number of times they have changed their schedules these past four months, this is the fourth notebook, the second one somehow got burned while the third one got soaked in vodka. Akaashi may have an idea of how that happened, but he is afraid to ask for confirmation.

"It says here that you have to stack books today, so it's your turn to take those nasty antiques out of the boxes full of duuuust" Tendou waggles his fingers as he says the last word, approaching Oikawa as he does so. This causes the brunette to pull a face as if he has eaten something sour.

"It is not my turn to stack books and work at the back! Akaashi please help me here."

He looks hopelessly at him, but his now forming pout will not break Keiji apart. "Just go and do your work for today, please." He takes another sip of his black coffee, which probably will worsen his headache but he doesn't care anymore, he is in hell already with this two on his presence.

"Akaashiiiii don't be like that" As he whines, he drapes his body across the counter and tries to give the other his sad puppy eyes as a last resort, but when he notices Akaashi doesn't bat an eye he gives up and stands again but slouching a little. Oikawa sends a dirty look at Tendou, who just sticks his tongue out at him. This earns him a middle finger as Oikawa goes to the backroom. His whines can be heard to the front, which Akaashi doesn't appreciate much.

He turns to his coffee again, taking another sip which burns his tongue slightly but he doesn't mind, he needs the caffeine to survive the all these hours of work without passing out from exhaustion or from the headache that is probably a migraine by now. Sleeping at the couch yesterday wasn't the best idea, his back doesn't ache as he thought but he paid the price with the tiredness he has been feeling all day.

"Hey Dickens" Akaashi turns to Tendou, who has been calling him names of English writers for about two weeks now since he discovered he studied English literature and not Japanese literature in university. Tendou looks surprised every time he turns around to face him as if he doesn't expect Akaashi to pay attention to him or the nicknames. "You look half dead today, wassup?"

"I moved into my new apartment yesterday and made the mistake of falling asleep on the couch." Tendou winces at his statement and looks at Akaashi’s face for a second, then to the little coffee shop section of the store where he should be. His eyes return to Akaashi and he smiles at him before speaking. "You can go and finish your beverage at the coffee stand, I'll stay here."

Akaashi is about to protest when Tendou interrupts him. "We don't want a night owl coming into our shop at this time of the night and get sucked into the dark holes under your eyes the moment they come into the shop. So go and drink even more coffee there where no books will be harmed if you drop dead. Please, and thank you."

Well if he insists. "Thank you Tendou-san" Tendou gives him a look and Akaashi sights. "Thank you Tendou."

The red-headed man smiles "That's more like it. Now go and eat some brains on the other side of the store, you zombie." He gives Akaashi a little push towards the general direction of the coffee stand and moves behind the counter, where he sits in the metal chair and immediately puts his feet on the table before taking his phone out.

The book store is not so big, it has about five bookshelves in the center and some books propped up on boxes near the walls. It's a very tight space, but it makes it feel even more home-like. The smell of old books is impregnated into the walls, where the boxes full of donated books are. Most of the books on the shelves are new, or at least as new as they can look. At one side of the book store there is a little cafeteria, most of the chairs and tables go towards the garden at the side of the house, which is a weird place for a garden in Akaashi's opinion. The book store is a house, the main rooms on the first floor being where the books are located and the kitchen is more closed off, that place is the back room where they store the boxes with new or old books that didn't sell. The second floor is closed off as well, being where Fumiko lives.

Akaashi finally gets to the small coffee shop after dragging his feet all over the floor and decides to clean the counter, since the one with the morning shift didn't clean after himself. After a look around the little table full of the coffee machines, he concludes that Hinata was the one with the morning shift this time. He hasn't met the uni student yet, but by what Oikawa tells him he is a small man, with even brighter hair than Tendou, that destroys everything in his way.

"Dickens!" He turns to look at Tendou the moment Oikawa steps out of the backroom and throws himself at the redhead. A yelp is heard from him but he manages to slip out of Oikawa's strong grip with those long limbs of his and run towards Akaashi at the other side of the store. Akaashi puts his mug down and away from the edge of the table just as Tendou collapses into him and hides behind his back as he tries to regain his balance.

Oikawa stops in front of Akaahi and tries to reach behind him to get to Tendou, but the other is too fast for him and always manages to dodge. When Oikawa accidentally hits Akaashi on the stomach is when he takes Oikawa's wrists and puts them in front of them both. One look at his face and sees how Oikawa's face changes from angry to scared in a second. He must be pulling some kind of mad expression for Oikawa to look that afraid, so he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before relaxing his face and looking at Oikawa in the eye.

"Oikawa, could you please explain to me why you are trying to kill Tendou again?"

Oikawa's expression changes to anger again and he takes his wrists out of his grasp and puts them on his hips, cocking them to the side as he glares at Tendou who is peeking from over Akaashi's shoulder. "I decided to check the notebook and he is the one with stacking and unboxing duty today! Not me!"

"I unboxed yesterday as well so I found it unjust for me to do it for two consecutive days, so I gave you the honor of unboxing our literature treasures today."

Oikawa's face turns red with anger as he tries to reach for Tendou again. "You know I'm allergic to dust you little shit!" He manages to duck behind Akaashi's arm, now he and Tendou are chasing each other around the store, making Akaashi wish he had just skipped work today as he did yesterday, because oh boy does he miss the couch.

\----------

Akaashi needs to get himself a bicycle or something if he is going to be walking around to all places now that he lives in the city. Even more now that its the middle of the night and its starting to rain as he closes the store.

He stands near the door as he is drinking his fourth cup of coffee of the night. The sound of the raindrops falling outside lull him to sleep even after consuming all of that caffeine at ten. Tendou waves at him as he walks out of the store and gets on his motorcycle parked right beside the door. It's good that it's a Royal Enfield Bullet because it helps with the store's aesthetic. And no, he does not know the model of the said motorcycle because he knows about that stuff. He knows every single detail about the vehicle since Tendou talked about it for a month after his father let him have it.

He sees Tendou drive away as the rain starts to pick up. He finishes his cup and walks to the coffee stand to wash it. After about five minutes later, when he is about to grab his coat and go outside, Fumiko-san appears from downstairs for the first time since Oikawa and Tendou were fighting earlier. Akaashi hated bothering her with things from the store, but both men refused to stop fighting over who would unpack the boxes, so he called her and the moment she came down they were put to work, both of them having to unbox all of the donations given to them this past week, may them be magazines, books or old newspapers.

Akaashi wanted to laugh every time he heard them snickering at each other at the back or when one of them sneezed. Oikawa's sneezes are the best. They are all delicate as if he is scared that something may come out of his nose or his lungs will burst.

It was fun until Oikawa couldn’t contain his allergies anymore and wouldn't stop sneezing, so they had to call his boyfriend to pick him up and get him away from the dust cloud that took over the store. Luckily they didn't have many clients that night after that, just about six students looking for books and a woman looking for her dog. Let's hope she found her dog.

Fumiko-san walks to him with an umbrella on her hand. "Take this with you so that you won't get so wet. You can keep it if you want to, I never use it anyways."

Akaashi smiles gently at her "Thank you" she then waves at him and walks back upstairs, looking as tired as Akaashi feels. From what, Akaashi is not sure since she is locked up there most of the time.

After closing and locking all doors and windows, he turns off the lights and goes out of the store. Opening the umbrella he finds that it has the face of a cute cat, with cat ears and everything. Well, now he can see why she didn't want it.

The walk towards his apartment seems to take forever. For a moment he thinks he got lost by taking the wrong turn or something, his workplace is not so far but he does have to walk through a lot of narrow streets to get to it faster. He could always walk on the main street, but there are too many cars there and it takes a little longer since he has to go around a full block of buildings. As Akaashi thinks about alternative routes to his home, without noticing, he is in front of the entrance, fumbling with his keys with the help of the light from the pharmacy across the street. He opens the door at the moment someone tries to do the same from the inside, making the door open faster and a little more violently than he intended.

Akaashi lets go of the door and quickly takes a step inside, mumbling an apology as he closes the umbrella and shakes it a little before fully entering the building. The other person is still standing there, very still and looking at him. Akaashi can feel his intense stare on the side of his face, so he decides to turn to the stranger.

Oh boy, he is hot.

Strong arms and toned chest are visible thanks to the tanktop the man is wearing. He has an umbrella on one hand, a wallet on the other. He looks up to the man’s face and is greeted with golden eyes and an interesting hairstyle. His hair is a mixture of black and white streaks, the dominant color being white. It is spiked up in a weird way that just he can make look good. Akaashi decides to pay more attention to the expression on the man’s face, which is a little starstruck as if he got startled or surprised by something. When he finally notices Akaashi's eyes on his face he shakes his head a little and a smile covers his lips. The smile is a little tight as if something is bothering him, but it still looks genuine in an strange way.

"Hey! Um, I'm Bokuto" The man smiles a little more, this time showing his teeth, which are whiter and straighter than Akaashi.

For a moment he gets distracted by his smile but then he looks back to his eyes and tries to smile politely at the man "I'm Akaashi, sorry if I startled you by bolting in like that."

The man moves his hands as if he is trying to gesture while talking, but the things he is holding impedes him to do so. "You don't need to apologize! I was the one that opened the door so suddenly and rushed." He suddenly seems to remember something and looks behind him, towards the pharmacy. He then turns back to Akaashi and smiles again, this time without the tightness from before. "I have to rush to the pharmacy before it starts to rain worse, but it was nice meeting you!"

"You too, Bokuto-san." Akaashi looks like the other man waves at him as a farewell and steps outside, opening his umbrella and sprinting to the other side of the street. He slips a little when he gets to the entrance, which makes Akaashi chuckle as he shakes his umbrella again and then walks towards the steps. He walks slowly, telling himself is due to tiredness and not the fact that he wants to see where his hot neighbor lives.

When he gets to his floor is when he hears steps coming up the stairs. He fumbles with his keys for a while, and when he opens the door is when Bokuto appears next to him on the stairs. Akaashi turns to look at the other man and acknowledges him with a slight bow of his head. Bokuto looks at him and smiles again, his hair is now a little wet, even if he had the umbrella, and he is carrying two boxes of pills along with his wallet on one hand.

"Hey Akashi! You live here?" Bokuto makes a face for a second before speaking again. "I mean like the apartment next to mine because it's very obvious you live in this building now. I haven't seen you before though, did you just move in?"

He sure talks a lot. "Yeah, I moved in yesterday."

Bokuto smiles again "Oh so that was the noise from yesterday." They stay in silence for some seconds before Bokuto speaks. "Well, you seem tired so I'll let you go to sleep now. Its almost midnight I think." He pulls out a phone from nowhere and checks the time. "Yup. Almost midnight. I'll leave you so that you can go to sleep now! I have to wake up early tomorrow either way so I have to go as well."

Akaashi's brain is too tired to even correct the way he mentioned his name earlier. He just nods and tries not to yawn in front of him. "Goodnight Bokuto-san."

Bokuto smiles, how the hell can he look so alive at these deadly hours of the night. "Have a good sleep Akashi!" He waves and walks to the door next to his, opening it and entering without a look back. Akaashi stays standing there, not moving a single bone or muscle of his body for a second before taking in his conversation with Bokuto, how he almost didn't say a word and how he has an incredibly attractive neighbor who doesn't know how to pronounce his name.

With these thoughts running through his head he goes to sleep, this time on his bed as he should.

\----------

"How you doing cutie?"

What is Oikawa even doing here, he doesn't have a shift tonight.

"Oikawa, what are you doing here? You don't have a shift tonight." Voicing his thoughts are some of the ways Akaashi manages to get rid of unwanted people or attention. Even if he knows Oikawa is capable enough of having a one-sided conversation, he doesn't want to deal with him today after what he and Tendou did to him yesterday when he was dying from exhaustion. This time, even if he got home late yesterday, he managed to sleep better. He woke up early though, not to see if he managed to stumble into a certain neighbor, oh no. It was because he needs to organize his apartment, which is still covered in so many boxes that there is more carton that floor visible.

"How rude of you! I am blessing you with my presence today, so you better be grateful."

"Actually, I made him come and apologize to you." Akaashi hears a voice from the door and turns to it, finding Iwaizumi entering the store. "Shittykawa, can you say sorry to him already so that we can go eat something."

#Akaashiisconfused. "What are you talking about? He doesn't need to apologize for anything."

Iwaizumi looks him in the eye and crosses his arms, an action that puts not only him but the whole world to jelly. "He told me all that happened yesterday after I took him home. And you looked as if you were about to die yesterday, so I guess he was a pain in the ass more than usual for you."

"Hey!"

Iwaizumi turns to Oikawa. "Don’t whine and apologize already!"

Oikawa looks at Iwaizumi with an angry pout. They have a stare off for more than a minute until Oikawa sighs and looks down, groaning heavily.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused yesterday. It was Satori's fault as well though!" Iwaizumi proceeds to hit him on the arm. "Ouch! Iwa-chan!"

"Don't blame others when you are apologizing for something, dumbass." He looks at Oikawa’s arm subtly as if to check for damage and then interlaces their fingers. He turns to Akaashi and offers a smile. "I'm sorry for all the trouble he always causes. Like for real, I can barely stand him for a few hours and you have a six-hour shift with him? wow." Oikawa hums and looks away at the same time Iwaizumi looks at him with one of the softest expressions he has seen on his face.

After a second the man looks as if he remembered something and turns to Akaashi again. "Is the book about mythology that I asked for here already?"

Akaashi shakes his head. "I ordered it about a week ago, but since it was out of stock almost everywhere it will take about another week to come to the store."

At this exchange Oikawa turns to look at his boyfriend again. "Did you order a book from a co-worker of mine instead of asking me for it?"

Iwaizumi nods and Oikawa seems as if he just told him he cheated on him with the man in front of them. "You know I can get you stuff like that! I work here as well! How could you Iwa-chan!"

Oikawa keeps on whining and talking to his boyfriend even after Iwaizumi says goodbye to Akaashi and drags the brunette by the hand to the doors. He sees them walk away and slowly he realizes how dark it is outside. He looks at the clock on the wall and sighs, he has another four hours to go.

It is quieter today without Tendou and Oikawa, the other two co-workers from today are not as close to him as the duo is. Most of the people who work at the book store, not so many actually, prefer to not talk to him since he has such a stoic expression most of the time and a closed-off personality.

Maybe having a shift with Tendou and Oikawa is not so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song for this chapter is "Just In Time" by Frank Sinatra! This one is about meeting someone for the first time and you know that person will change your life, so I guess it fits the introduction of all the characters introduced in this chapter.
> 
> MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
> 
> Make sure to check out Suguru's [Tumblr blog](https://suguru.tumblr.com/), and if you want to chat here's [mine!](https://is-a-bell-tmblr.tumblr.com/)
> 
> here's the link to the fic's [playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4YAnv5HBcFCg6Uf5CSeHUM)


	3. Start Of Something New

A sound startles Akaashi awake at the brisk of dawn. He sits on the bed, trying to find the light-switch to illuminate the now too obscure room. While reaching for the wall, the same sound is heard but this time nearer.

When Akaashi finally finds the switch on the wall, the noise comes once again, now from the other side of his bedroom door. No, not his bedroom, all the way to the apartment door.

He carefully throws the sheets to the cold side of the bed, standing up as quietly as he can, a wish not so granted since the wood floorboards decide to squeak with every careful step he takes. Opening the bedroom door makes the man even more nervous, looking at the other side of the hall causing the hair at the back of his neck to stand and leave him waiting for it. Waiting for the sound again. But it doesn't come.

He gets to the entrance and the silhouette at the other side of the door is bigger than an animal, the dim light of the hallway flickered a little, probably the electric system is still fragile from the storm from a few days ago.

As he steps towards the door, he’s able to see the silhouette starting to move, but a creak on the floor board under his foot makes it stop on its track, the shadow evidently moving its face towards his apartment door. As Akaashi takes the door handle in one hand, and a broom laying next to the door on the other, he can hear the heavy breathing of the person at the other side. A rotten smell gets to his nose before he can open the barrier that separates him from the probably intruder on the hall, that makes his actions stutter for a second, but now the intruder knows they have being noticed, there is no going back.

Opening the door as quietly as he can, Akaashi steps back to open it fully and raise the broom stick with both hands in case the intruder attacks, but what laid before his eyes is not something he expected to see ever. Like literally not even on his dreams.He lowers the broom a little, taking in the sight before him before opening his mouth to finally address the sight before him.

“Bokuto-san?”

The man straightens at the sight of Akaashi, a frightened look on his face. As Akaashi takes his appearance in, his eyes widen a bit. Bokuto’s shirt and face are covered in smudges of red liquid that, at a closer expectation, he realizes its blood, which explains the rotten smell all over the hall. Bokuto’s mouth is hanging open, his eyes big circles on his face. When locking eyes with him, Akaashi discovers that his golden eyes seem to glow a little every time the hall is covered in darkness when the light above them flickers. Akaashi takes a step towards him to inspect his aspect a little, to see if the blood is his or from another body that he guesses is no longer alive, judging by the amount of blood dripping down his chin.

“Akaashi? Um, wha- what are you doing?” Bokuto takes small steps backwards, making himself be cornered against the opposite wall of the small hallway. Akaashi looks back to his chin, where some droplets of blood had slid to the collar of his white shirt, staining it even more. His eyes go back to Bokuto’s lips when he opens his mouth to talk again, but rapidly closes it after seeing the other’s attention on him. Akaashi blinks multiple times, his dark green eyes trying to take a glimpse inside Bokuto’s mouth again. Were those... it cant be. Were those fangs?

“Bokuto-san” He steps away from his door and gestures inside. “Please come in so that I can help you clean up. And I do expect an explanation, because if there is a body to bury I’ll totally up for helping you hide it, I actually know the-”

“Akaashi!” The alarm on his voice makes the man stutter. Suddenly there are big heavy hands on his shoulders, said hands are also covered in the red substance but Bokuto seems to have forgotten about that fact, so now his white shirt looks like a bloody pad. Akaashi lets his eyes trail back to Bokuto’s, but the moment their eyes meet he feels a strange dizziness cover him all over, his mind fogs up and his arms and legs go limp, making him surge forward.

His body feels numb, but he still feels Bokuto’s arms catch him where he was holding his shoulders a second before. A wave of tiredness hits him, but Akaashi still gets the strength to look up at Bokuto one more time. A glance at his eyes and he can see guilt there, Bokuto closes his eyes and lets a sigh leave his chest, where Akaashi is laying limp at the moment.

“I can't do this to you” he then looks into Akaashi’s eyes again and he can feel his limbs again, the numbness of his body going away. Bokuto hesitates by looking inside the other's apartment, he nods to himself and helps him to stand while leading him into his apartment, closing the door and guiding Akaashi to sit on the couch. The tiredness and nausea still remain, but at least he can feel his legs to stay upright.

“Bokuto-san, please tell me whats happening” Akaashi looks at his fingers as he flexes them “and what just happened to me.”

His eyes drift to Bokuto, who seems to be hesitating if he should sit on the couch or stay standing, he goes to sit on the floor by Akaashi’s feet, playing with his hands as his eyes look everywhere but his neighbor’s face.

“Its a little, um, hard to explain” he lifts his hand towards his neck but then notices the state it is in and jumps from the floor while looking at it frantically, as if searching for a stain he left by sitting on the floor. There are none, thankfully. THAT would be a pain to explain when his mom visits. Bokuto lifts his hands and gestures to himself “I think I should clean myself up first”

Akaashi stays sitting for a second, still a little dizzy. But he stands up, loosing balance for a second, and then walks to the bathroom at the end of the hall, next to his bedroom where he rather be right now instead of awake and helping his bloody neighbor who he no longer wants to see that much.

He opens the bathroom door and goes inside to reach for a dark towel to give to Bokuto. Said man is just standing at the door, looking a little lost and out of place between some of his moving boxes.

“Here” Akaashi gives him the towel and starts to walk out the bathroom “you can use the shower or the sink to clean yourself, don't bother if you get something dirty, I can clean it up later.”

Bokuto looks at the sink, then at the towel on his hand and then to Akaashi’s face. He shakes his head and his smile is back in place, but not as bright as yesterday before he ran into the rain, Akaashi notices. “Thank you Akashi!” He then looks to the floor and his voice drops a little “You really don't need to help me, though”

“Of course I'm going to help you if you suddenly show up at my doorstep with blood all over” Akaashi looks at his appearance again, the blood is drying but it seems that he doesn't have any cut or bruise on him, which confirms his suspicions that the blood isn’t his. A little unconscious shiver passes through his spine at the thought. “I’ll bring you one of my shirts, for now clean yourself and meet me on the living room when you’re done.”

And just like that he walks out and lightly closes the door, walking to his room as he hears the sink start to run. Akaashi sits on the bed and cradles his head on his hands, wishing he could just go to sleep and wake up, thinking this mess was just a dream.

After waiting for about ten minutes sitting on his bed, also changing his shirt after realizing Bokuto got it a little dirty, he hears the bathroom door open slowly, as if Bokuto is hesitating whether to go out and meet Akaashi outside or stay hiding in he bathroom, which Akaashi guesses is what he did since the sink was turned off about more than five minutes ago.

Some seconds pass and he hears Bokuto sigh deeply and then step out. From his bedroom he can see that the man is shirtless, the stained shirt balled up in his hand. If he looked good with the tanktop the last time they met, he looks even hotter now without anything covering his chest and arms. He feels his face flush, his eyes widening a little when realizing he is literally gaping at his neighbor who is STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. Taking a look at Bokuto's face to try and distract himself, he notices his hair looks a bit wet and that’s the moment Akaashi discovers that his hair is down and not in the usual spikes up that he had the past times he saw him.

The other man looks around until he spots Akaashi at his left inside his room, he smiles a little but his head is hung a little low as if ashamed. He takes a few steps towards him but stops at his bedroom entrance.

“You can come in Bokuto-san” Akaashi says as he sees the man hesitate for what seems to be the tenth time tonight. Akaashi stands up with the shirt he found and gives it to Bokuto. The man is taller than him by not so much, but his muscular figure obviously wouldn’t fit on one of his normal shirts, its good that he likes oversized things then. “Its the biggest one I could find. I think this one will fit.”

Bokuto takes the shirt with his available hand and mumbles a thanks, then putting it on even if he has his other stained and wet shirt on his hand. When he is fully dressed Akaashi guides them out of his room and into the living room, where he gestures for Bokuto to sit on the now-free-of-boxes couch while he walks to the kitchen to get Bokuto a bag to put his shirt inside. Akaashi finds one and gives it to the man, then sitting beside him on the couch while keeping his distance since he literally just saw him covered in blood ten minutes ago, which should shake or scare him a little more but doesn’t for a reason.

“So, Bokuto-san.” the man jumps at the mention of his name and looks at Akaashi, but when he notices the other’s eyes on him he looks down again. “Bokuto-san, please would you be kind to explain to me why you showed up at my doorstep at” he looks at his clock resting on a desk near him “three a.m. with blood all over you?”

Bokuto seems to hesitate but sighs, something he’s done a lot since he came inside Akaashi’s apartment.

“I-“ he looks to the side while he moves his hands around “its not so easy to explain, but I have- no, I am, well” he grunts and closes his eyes forcefully and clenches his fists before spitting all the words out “Imavampire”

He opens one eye and looks at Akaashi, trying to find any kind of reaction from the man, who just frowns a little and tips his head to the side. “I already figured that bit out, the blood part is the one that concerns me”

“Wait, you WHAT!?” Bokuto raises his voice, obviously not caring about their downstairs neighbors “You know about me being a vampire?! Then why did you want me to tell you if you already know?!”

Akaashi closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, this guy is going to give him back the migraine that went away yesterday. “I asked you to tell me why you were covered in blood, not what species you are.”

Bokuto seems confused so Akaashi decides to explain a little “I saw your fangs outside, and human eyes don't glow in the dark Bokuto, so my conclusion was that you were either a vampire or a very dedicated cosplayer.”

Bokuto stares at him for a second, his big golden eyes look him over and then he laughs, throwing his head back in the process “I can’t believe it!!! You’re the first one to figure it out that fast you know, and you’re the first one as well to tell me the cosplayer thing!” He laughs again, the sound resounding on the walls. Akaashi smiles a little at how amused Bokuto looks, but he is still on edge since he doesn’t know the origin of the blood he saw. His anxiety kicks in more, making him fiddle with his fingers as a tight feeling takes over his chest.

He really should stop playing with his fingers or he will be jointless at the fingers by 30.

“Bokuto-san, please be more quiet. And please explain to me the blood before I end up calling an ambulance.”

“Don’t you mean the cops? I'm not hurt.”

“I wouldn’t call the cops on you. And the ambulance would be for me.” Bokuto looks confused. “I'm about to have a heart attack by the amount of anxiety you’re giving me.”

Bokuto laughs again but with a look at Akaashi’s face he flinches and quiets down.

“Right right!” He takes a few breathes to calm himself after his laughing fit and looks at Akaashi with traces of happiness on his features, which make him look more like the Bokuto he talked to and saw almost fall on the rain. “The blood wasn’t from a person, it was from my friend’s goat.”

“Your what now”

Bokuto’s face seems more excited now “A goat! Its a lot to process, but the thing is that my friend likes to play with genetics so he managed to create this weird goat hybrid that makes chocolate milk, but then he discovered he doesn’t like goat milk so he let the experiment halfway. But Gladys, the goat, decided to go crazy tonight and almost attacked my friend, so he called me to calm her down and eventually I did”

That is a lot to process indeed. “So you killed a chocolate goat”

“Yup! It didn’t taste like chocolate though.” Bokuto looks a little disappointed for a second but then smiles at him with a face that a goat vampire killer should not possess.

“Okay, now that I know you are not a danger to me while I sleep then could you go to your apartment and let me sleep? Not to sound rude but I haven't slept more than two hours today.”

Bokuto seems a little confused but then smiles once again Ooh right!! You came really late last night, what was that about?”

Akaashi is not going to get rid of him that easily, is he?

“We had a little issue where I work at and I was the one designated to close the doors, so I had to stay extremely ate.”

Bokuto’s mouth goes into an “o” shape and then he stands up “Then I guess I’ll be going.” He walks towards the door as Akaashi stands and walks behind him. Bokuto then turns around and smiles sheepishly at Akaashi. “Thanks for, you know, helping me clean up myself and stuff without judging me being covered in goat blood.”

“No problem” Akaashi opens the door and Bokuto steps out. The man looks at him again and looks over his face, his features look as if he is analyzing him. 

“If you have any questions about, er, me and my vampiric existence, we could, if you want to of course! We could have dinner some day?” He looks a little nervous but then stands in a more defensive but sheepish way “Not that you have to! And it doesn’t have to be dinner it could be lunch or a coffee or something-” he looks at Akaashi’s face “I'm rambling aren’t I? Sorry!”

Akaashi looks at the nervous mess of a man in front of him and his lips quirk up on a small smile, to which Bokuto seems a little surprised.

“Yeah, that would be great.”

Bokuto smiles a ten thousand watt smile and says goodbye, but then he walks back just as Akaashi is about to close the door and asks for his number. To which Akaashi takes Bokuto’s phone and writes it on his contacts. Now he is able to close the door and go back to his room, where he lays down and is thankfully able to sleep, having not a nightmare as he expected, but a dream that contains fangs, a shirtless form, and a smile that could outshine the sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it was so weird to try and write that part at the beginning with suspense and all.  
you can literally spot the part when i go back to my writing style lol
> 
> and yes the song is from High School Musical bc idk i actually feel like it describes the situation
> 
> Make sure to check out Suguru's [Tumblr blog](https://suguru.tumblr.com/), and if you want to chat here's [mine!](https://is-a-bell-tmblr.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Here's the link to the fic's [playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4YAnv5HBcFCg6Uf5CSeHUM)


	4. The Last Of The Real Ones

"You have a DATE and you didn't TELL ME?!"

Why today out of the whole week did Oikawa had to have a shift?

"Oikawa shut up"

Oh, Akaashi likes Kageyama. Sadly he is almost never here, since he doesn't even work at the book store. He just covers for Hinata when he has something university or volleyball related. Today the orange ball of joy had a study session since he has an important exam tomorrow. 'If he fails the exam, his scholarship will get cancelled of something.' Kageyama had said when Hinata dropped him off while yelling an apology through the window.

"You shut up, Kageyama!" Oikawa sticks his tongue out and proceeds to scroll through Akaashi's phone. How he got a hold of that and unlocked it, Akaashi will probably never know. Either way, he has nothing to hide. Or at least that's what he thought until the brunette decided to read through his and Bokuto's conversations. They had just been talking for a few days, not even a week, but the amount of messages could make anyone think they had been texting for months. Bokuto loves emoticons and to write sentences in separated messages, which sometimes stresses him out but from Bokuto its more like an adorable quirk.

A snap of fingers in front of his face makes him look up from the book he had been reading, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, and slightly glare at the source of his now daily headaches. Oikawa is looking annoyed by the lack of attention that is being given to him, but when Akaashi closes his book and crosses his legs to make him talk, a smile brightens his features.

"Okay so I need to tell you two things." He taps the corner of the phone on his chin. "No, actually three things. So, one, for how long has this been going on and you didn't tell me a thing about it? I feel like the lack of trust will not benefit our relationship."

He can practically hear Kageyama's eye roll. "Oikawa, I said shut up. Let Akaashi-san have some space."

Oikawa pointedly ignores him and expectantly looks at Akaashi. Guess he doesn't have another way out of this than answering. "I met him at my apartment building last week. We have just been texting for a few days and i haven't seen him in person since he gave me his number, in case you were wondering."

Oikawa glances at him while keeping an eye on the phone as well, probably looking at more texts. "Okaaay. Second point, I need to see a picture of this guy."

"No you don't"

Puppy dog eyes don't work with Akaashi anymore, thanks to his high school experience with Konoha and Komi. But even feeling immune, Oikawa may come close to breaking him. "Please?"

"No."

The man huffs but doesn't press the matter further. He opens his mouth to speak but the phone on his hands vibrates, making even Kageyama who was stacking books still.

Hell unleashes.

Oikawa immediately runs to the other side of the store with the phone, Akaashi hot on his heels. While doing a turn, Oikawa trips and almost falls, which makes Kageyama try and stable him with cat-like reflexes. But Oikawa manages to dodge him, probably thinking that the boy will take the phone away, and makes Kageyama fall. Akaashi trips with him and now they are both laying on the floor while Oikawa runs to the coffee stand with phone in hand. Akaashi stands up, leaving the other boy grumpily laying on the floor, and runs towards Oikawa, who is now crouched behind the counter. Akaashi feels like a cat, or more like a kid, when he jumps over the counter, thankfully doesn't drop anything on top, and falls on the other side. His feet wobble a little but he manages to cage Oikawa against the counter. The brunette is looking at the screen but squeals in fear when he sees Akaashi fly on top of his head and fall in front of his feet, almost crushing them.

"Give me my phone!"

"NO"

Akaashi tries to grab his phone but Oikawa dodges again and goes through Akaashi's legs. He should have guessed the guy was hard to catch, judging from his fights with Tendou. But he won't give up. Akaashi traps Oikawa's ankle between his own, which scares the other man but doesn't stop him. Instead, he pulls at his foot hard and makes Akaashi loose balance. His bum makes a hard sound on the floor, and even his neck hurts from the hard impact, but he still manages to take Oikawa's leg and pull at it. Oikawa yells and tries to kick at him, which doesn't work with how frail he actually is. They fight for the phone until Akaashi pokes Oikawa on the stomach, which makes him laugh and drop the phone.

"AHA!" Akaashi takes the phone before the other can recover and stands up, rapidly walking to the other side of the store towards the back room. There, he closes the door and locks it the moment he hears Oikawa slam himself on it. He bangs the wooden door and even the wall, which makes Akaashi giggle. His shouts of demand are drowned out when he starts to read the texts that had started all of this.

  


**From: Bokuto**  
  
> Hey hey hey akashi!!!!!  
  
> oh wait if ur at work then you cant answwr  
  
> but u have answered before so probably u can  
  
> if u cant is alright  
  
> u will see this messages later i guess  
  
> SO EYAH WHAT I WATNED TO SAY WAS  
  
> i fround a restaurant for tonight! :D  


  


Akaashi smiles at the messages as he leans on the door and slides down until he is sitting on the floor. He reads some of them twice, not so used to the way Bokuto texts, and then answers him after noticing that the man is online.

  


**To: Bokuto**  
  
> Hello Bokuto-san. I am doing fine, thank you. How are you?"  
  
> I am allowed to use my phone at work, so don't worry about that.  


  


He can already see Bokuto typing, so he sends the next text fast.

  


**To: Bokuto**  
  
> What restaurant did you decide on?"  


  


The 'typing...' stops and starts again, probably from Bokuto deleting his message and starting to write a new one. He waits a little, noticing that there is no banging on the door. Instead, he can hear Oikawa and Kageyama bickering loudly. Those too are probably worse than Oikawa and Tendou together, mainly since they are 'frenemies from childhood', as Oikawa stated a long time ago. It confused Akaashi since they both seemed to get along most of the time, but Iwaizumi then explained that they are friends because the three of them attended the same middle and high school. They got along, but Oikawa got extremely jealous since Kageyama and Iwaizumi dated for a while at the end of their last year of middle school. That's a fun story.

His thoughts get taken off road when he feels a vibration on his hand. He looks down to see a text from Bokuto

  


**From: Bokuto**  
  
> heyhey! so i found this like restaurant  
  
> but its also kinda a bar  
  
> i actually didnt fidn it XD  
  
> a frined of mine works there  
  
> ive been before and its really good!!!!!!  
  
> its called johzenji  


  


There's a link to a web page and attached there's also a location. Akaashi copies the link for later, but first he texts Bokuto back.

  


**To: Bokuto**  
  
> Sounds great. Would you like to go together or meet there?"  


  


As he sees the little bubble saying that Bokuto is typing a response, he can't help but feel heat go up to his cheeks as he realizes what Oikawa told him before its actually true. He is technically going on a date with Bokuto. But not really at the same time, since its just a friendly meet up to talk about what happened that one night. Right?

The phone vibrates. He is scared of looking at the message. If they go together then they would have to probably walk there, even take the train. That would imply more conversation, which Akaashi is not the best at. And if they talk on the way to the restaurant, what if they don't have anything to talk about when they get there? Or even worse, Bokuto realizes he is boring and decides to go back home. Or even not showing up if they decide to meet up there. What if Bokuto regrets it or something comes up and forgets? What if- oh another message from Bokuto

  


**From: Bokuto**  
  
> Whatever u want! im ok with both :)  
  
> wait i can take us there  
  
> that way we wont have to walk!!!! XD XD  


  


Going on Bokuto's car is not that bad. There's radio to distract them, or maybe Bokuto is the type of person to pay full attention to the road and not talk while driving.

  


**To: Bokuto**  
  
> If you can take us there, then that's alright.  
  
> If you want to, of course.  


  


**From: Bokuto**  
  
> yeah totally fine!!  
  
> ur work finishes at 8 today right? u told me u dont have the closing shift  


  


_Oh he remembered._ The nervous butterflies are back, but probably not from anxiety.

  


**To: Bokuto**  
  
> Not really. I came in earlier so they are letting me out at 6, thankfully.  


  


He remembers when they all had to stay until 10, the closing shift, when the fight between Oikawa and Tendou happened. Let's hope when he goes out the ruckus between them all doesn't give them consequences this time.

  


**From: Bokuto**  
  
> PERFECTTTTT  
  
> ill pick u up at 7 so that we can be thre before it gets to their busy hours  
  
> picking u up is literally walking next door now taht i think about it lol XD  


  


Akaashi actually laughs at the comment. He sends a reply about it all being settled, his cheeks even redder than before, when the door clicks and opens, making him fall on his back. He lets a groan out and looks up, finding Fumiko-san looking down at him with a mad expression. Behind her are Oikawa and Kageyama, both with their arms crossed and a pout on their faces, signalling that they already got scolded. He sees Fumiko-san start to say something but when she takes a look at his flushed face and the phone tightly held on his hand, she tilts her head to the side as if asking what happened to him. Akaashi hates to do this, but he looks towards Oikawa and takes a breath before saying what he knows he will not live down for the rest of his days.

"You were right, I think I do have a date." All of their faces bright up, Fumiko looks more confused than happy, actually. Oikawa tries to say something but he interrupts. "Before you say anything. I need your help."

Oikawa's head tilts like Fumiko's. "With what?"

"I may or may not know what to wear for a date."

Oikawa literally _glows_ ."Oh this will be fun"

\----------

If someone were to ask Akaashi any day for the rest of his life what has been his biggest mistake EVER, it would be inviting Oikawa over to help him get ready for his maybe but probably not date with Bokuto.

"Oikawa, if you make him change his shirt one more time, I swear i will physically throw you out of the balcony."

Oh, and Iwaizumi is also here by the way. And before anybody asks, Kageyama is as well, since Iwaizumi was supposed to give them both a ride home. Thankfully for Akaashi, the youngest boy was asleep. Unfortunately for him, his head was resting on Iwaizumi's lap while the rest of his body was laying on the sofa, which made Oikawa not only be obviously jealous, but also distracted from what he is at his apartment for.

"It just doesn't suit him Iwa-chan! He has to look perfect for his first date ever."

Akaashi makes such an offended face that even Iwaizumi cracks a smile. "I have been in dates before, thank you very much."

Not even Kageyama, who is now snoring, seems convinced.

Okay, he might have never been in a proper date before. Just once actually, and it was in middle school with a girl named Yachi. She was very cute and extremely nervous about everything, but Akaashi actually liked her in a way. That way ended up being as a friend, and the feelings were reciprocated when they both decided they were trying to date a person of the wrong gender. They ended things fast after they realized they were both gay as fuck, but thankfully stayed friends. Akaashi and Yachi sometimes get together for lunch to catch up, even Yachi's fiancee, Kiyoko-san, sometimes tags along. Now that he thinks about it, their wedding is coming soon, he will have to talk to Fumiko-san for a few days off since the engaged couple decided to get married at a beach, Okinawa to be exact. Akaashi was not even surprised when Yachi told him that they would pay for everything, seeing as Kiyoko's the owner of the biggest hotel in Okinawa and Yachi's dad is the CEO of a Japanese airline. The perfect match if you were to ask him.

Back to real life, Oikawa was sending such a dirty look at Kageyama while his boyfriend munched on some cookies Akaashi had made earlier on the week when not so mysterious thuds and moans came from Suga and Daichi's apartment next door. A memory he will never forget and never even wanted.

"Since you too seem to have a little tension that is not actually helping me, which is what you are here for if I may remind you, I will go have a quick shower. Please be welcome to grab anything to eat or drink, and Oikawa" the brunette turns towards him with a frown still on his face "You can look through my closet to see if any outfit pleases you." He then proceeded to walk to the bathroom and lock the door.

While he showers, he has as a background noise the conversation Oikawa and Iwaizumi are having outside. They are thankfully not fighting, which is a miracle taking in consideration how sentimental Oikawa is and how short is Iwaizumi's patience and temper. When he goes out on a towel, not really caring about his friends seeing him half naked, their conversation stops. Both men turn to look at him and look a little surprised. Akaashi quirks an eyebrow, which makes Iwaizumi huff out a laugh.

"Is there something wrong?"

Oikawa looks him in the eye and smirks "Not really, just that you're actually fit and not the noodle we thought yo- OUCH! IWA-CHAN!"

Iwaizumi kicks him in the shin again when Kageyama stirs in his sleep. "Shut up, Shittykawa. And Akaashi, please excuse him for being so fucking annoying."

"Iwa-chan! Why you gotta be so mean!"

"Because you don't know when to shut your mouth."

"But I was just sharing our shared opinion about our dear friend right he- STOP KICKING ME IT HURTS!

Akaashi leaves them to keep on bickering, entering his room just to find an outfit laid on his bed. It was a dark teal button up shirt, a pair of black skinny jeans that he didn't even knew he had, and a pair of black casual tennis shoes. He was not sure of the outfit, but either way he closed the door and started to change. When he was buttoning the shirt, Akaashi heard a distant knock on the door and the voices on the living room quieted down.

Just for a second later to be filled with Oikawa's greetings.

"You must be the Bokuto-san Akaashi is always talking about! I'm Oikawa, please come in." As Akaashi face palms he can hear Bokuto ask for him. That makes him smile a little while he puts on some cologne and tries to calm down the mess of curls that has formed on top of his head. The smile fades a little when he hears Oikawa' response. "Akaashi? Oh he just got out of the shower and is changing in his room. I think he is-"

Oikawa will NOT finish that sentence even if Akaashi doesn't have a single clue about what he is about to say. He opens the door of his bedroom while rolling up the sleeves to look a little more casual on the dress shirt. "I'm here Bokuto-san. I'm so sorry for making you wait a little, I got busy with all of them here and-"

Oh god, Bokuto looked so fucking hot. He is wearing all black, his ripped skinny jeans and way-too-tight-on-the-chest shirt making his muscular body show off more than the other times he has seen him. He has a dark red bomber jacket on his hand, as well as some keys, probably to his car or apartment.

"I- um, I.... I forgot what I was going to say" _'WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT THEN'_ his brain screams at Akaashi as he fixes the clock on his wrist. Bokuto takes a little to react, Akaashi sees as he shakes his head and focuses on his face. _Was he checking me out just now? Nah, your brain just had a gay seizure, don't overthink it._____

_ _ __ _ _

_ _ __ _ _

Bokuto smiles big at him "Hey Akashi! Don't worry about being a little late!" He then turns to the couch were Iwaizumi is waking Kageyama up. And smiles even more, if possible. "Hey! I know you! You play for Nittaidai!"

At the mention of the university, Kageyama perks up and looks at the source of the voice. His eyes widen when he takes in the man in front of him. "Kusuri pharmacy's ace"

Bokuto laughs, making Akaashi's insides squirm. _Did he drink from Oikawa's coffee earlier? That thing is more milk than coffee. His lactose intolerant ass better not get sick, not tonight._ "Heyeah! You're Kageyama, right? Your sets were amazing on the last game we had. Maybe we can play a friendly match someday! I would love to try your sets out, they look soooo awesome!"

Kageyama is speechless as Iwaizumi agrees for him and excuses them all, taking Oikawa by the arm and pulling them all towards the door with a goodbye and an excuse that "its too late and they have to go". After they leave, Akaashi takes a deep breath as Bokuto keeps on talking.

"I like your friends. Even if the porcupine guy scares me a bit. He seems like the type of person to finish the orange juice and leave the empty carton in the fridge."

Akaashi looks down to try and suppress his laugh. "I guess that's Iwaizumi for you. But let me ask you something Bokuto-san, why a porcupine?"

Bokuto's eyes widen up, making him look comically like an owl. "He has spiky hair and a boopable nose. He is also small."

Akaashi turns around to totally go and get his phone, obviously not to hide his laugh about Bokuto's comment about his friend, oh no.

\----------

"I thought you said you have a car."

"Em, not exactly. I said I had a way of getting us there."

"Bokuto-san, I'm not riding a motorcycle."

"You are riding my motorcycle!"

As Bokuto walks towards the motorcycle, Akaashi can't help notice the lineal black and yellow stickers along the edge of some parts of the silver motorcycle. "A Yamaha FJR1300", Bokuto had said. Akaashi doesn't know what it is or what it means, his motorcycle knowledge begins and ends with what Tendou tells him about his own. Akaashi stays standing at the side as Bokuto looks for something on a little side compartment at the back of the vehicle. He takes a black helmet out and gives it to Akaashi. He then looks on the compartment at the other side but comes empty handed.

"I think my friend kept the helmet from last time we went out. But you use that one!"

Akaashi frowns and looks down to the shiny black helmet on his hands, meeting his own reflection on the clean surface."I don't think that's either safe or legal, Bokuto-san."

Bokuto giggles softly. "Well, its not that legal, BUT my motorcycle is safe and made for two, that's why I bought it. Its not even that fast, so don't worry about it." He laughs again as he climbs on the motorcycle, straddling the leather seat. "Either way, its not like falling off a motorcycle is such a big hazard for me."

Akaashi snorts as he puts on the helmet and climbs on top of the thing behind Bokuto. For a moment he is lost on where to put his hands, and as he debates, the other man turns the motorcycle on and glances back at him.

"If I were you, I would grab on to something."

And he does. He takes a hold of Bokuto's shoulders and gets a little stunned at the muscle underneath his palms. He suddenly gets pulled out of his thoughts as Bokuto accelerates and they are already around the corner. Akaashi can only think about one thing: WASN'T THIS THING SUPPOSED TO NOT GO SO FAST.

He clings harder to Bokuto as they pass through the cars, the motorcycle sometimes tips a little too much to one side when they do some turns and Akaashi presses himself to Bokuto's back each time that happens, while the other just laughs, which makes Akaashi think that he is tilting it in purpose to play with Akaashi's heart.

As they get more into the city, Akaashi lets him eyes roam around. At a red light he notices that they are going into a more busy, and expensive, side of the city. He starts to wonder the type of restaurant Bokuto has picked when the light turns green and Bokuto is speeding up again. Akaashi lets himself relax more this time. He lessens the pressure on his fingers and feels how his and Bokuto's shoulders become less tense, which makes him feel a little guilty since the other man was probably getting hurt by his hard gripping. Akaashi takes a deep breath and sits straighter, feeling the air cut through the helmet and hit his face in a calming way. When he exhales, with his eyes closed, the warm air makes his stone cold face feel more at normal temperature. He should have brought a jacket or something now that he thinks about it. When Akaashi opens his eyes slowly, he can feel Bokuto slow down as they get to their destination. He sees the restaurant Bokuto was talking about.

Its everything that he imagined, and he doesn't know if that makes him proud or disappointed.

The place is big, full of people getting in and out. As they get close to enter the parking lot at the side, Akaashi notices a faint smell of meat and cigarettes that make him look to the inside of the place. There are low lights, and the ones that shine are either UV or from colorful signs on the walls and even hanging from the ceiling. There are tv's on every corner, and from what he can tell there's a game of something going on, which would explain the amount of people. There's mainly men, most look as buff as Bokuto or as university students. What they all have in common is how they are all kinda rich people looking, with expensive looking clothes and jewelry. Akaashi shouldn't stereotype them, but most of them do give the 'rich boy' vibe, which makes him think 'what are Bokuto and him doing at this place'. But if Bokuto says he has been here before, he will trust the other man.

When they finally come to a stop, and Bokuto turns the bike off, Akaashi steps off first. As Bokuto gets off, he notices the other struggling to take the helmet off and laughs loudly. Akaashi lets him arms fall limp and looks at Bokuto with a deadpan expression.

"Okay, okay, sorry for laughing." He steps closer and helps the raven take the helmet off his head carefully. When he is free of it, Bokuto smiles at him and then turns around to put the helmet inside the compartment.

Thankfully he doesn't notice Akaashi's blush and the way his breath hitches when his heart feels like it skips a beat over how beautiful Bokuto's smile is.

They walk inside and Akaashi feels uncomfortable, not only because of the amount of people inside, but also because a guy with an undercut and numerous piercings yells as a greeting when he sees Bokuto, who does the same.

"Kou! Long time no see, bro. You've got me all heartbroken and lonely here."

Bokuto just laughs as Akaashi tries his best to hide behind him as people turn to look at the loud interaction. "I have been a little busy with the apartment remodeling and stuff. Sorry Yuu."

"Nah, don't worry about it man. I know how hard it is for you to go out sometimes." Akaashi notices that the man has his tongue pierced, which makes him lean over to look better and get discovered by the fake blond. "Oh, and who is this fine man accompanying you tonight?"

Akaashi jumps a little and untangles his hands to offer one to the interesting man, bowing his head a little. "I'm Akaashi Keiji, a pleasure to meet you."

He takes Akaashi's hand, turns it a little and kisses the top of it while bowing down to the man. He looks up through his thick eyelashes and smirks at Akaashi's blush which is evident thanks to the UV light above. "I'm Terushima Yuuji, but you can call me tonight." He then winks and kisses Akaashi's hand again, but now higher more on the wrist. He is about to give another kiss, evidently higher, when Bokuto laughs a little and punches him in the arm, which makes the other drop Keiji's hand and laugh as well.

"Hey man, did you manage to get us the table I asked for?" Bokuto's question makes Terushima look away from Akaashi and nod, making a 'follow me' gesture and walking towards the inside of the place. Akaashi follows close, not letting go of Bokuto's jacket when the crowd gets a little thicker. When passing a tv, he notices there's a volleyball game going on. The Japan team is playing, which probably explains the amount of people here since its a sports themed restaurant, now that he notices. Akaashi doesn't recognize the other team, so he turns to look back to the front when he bumps into Bokuto's sturdy back. The man turns towards him and mouths the words 'are you okay', Akaashi just nods and they keep on walking.

Suddenly they reach the other side of the room where a tall man is leaning against a door. He has a drink on his hand, and as they get closer, Akaashi notices he is very pale, at close inspection, he comes to the conclusion the man must have some type of albinism since his hair is also as white as snow. When they reach him, he notices how the man is buffer and taller than Bokuto, but he somehow doesn't feel as threatened as he thinks he is supposed to feel. The man takes a look at the three of them and steps aside, letting Terushima open the door on the wall behind them. Akaashi is the last to step in, but a long thick arm stops him by putting itself in front of him. He looks up at the man, who seems to be studying him.

"Human." Is the only thing he says. Bokuto turns to look at Terushima, who frowns a little.

"He is allowed entranced by me." Both men look at each other for a second before the tall man takes something off his neck and gives it to Akaashi. He then steps back and closes the door. Akaashi looks down towards the object on his hand and finds a cord with a crystal at the bottom.

"Oh my god! Its a magic crystal!" He hears Bokuto's voice near his ear and looks up, finding the man studying the thing as well. "those are sooo cool. They are supposed to hide your human scent."

Akaashi looks at him puzzled as them three start going up some stairs. "What do you mean by my human scent?"

"Well," Terushima speaks up from the front of them. "I guess Bokuto didn't tell you, but the second floor is basically a restaurant and bar for, em, creatures like us."

Akaashi's eyebrow lifts a little "Us?"

Bokuto perks up at this and hold Akaashi's arm while shaking it. "Yuu here is a _kitsune!_ Show him!"

Terushima looks around and then glances at them before a dim light engulfs him and he shrinks. Suddenly, there's a fox with multiple tales in his place. _'He looks like a pokemon'_ Akaashi thinks.The animal blinks up at them a couple times, and Akaashi swears he sees a smirk pulling up at its lips when suddenly Terushima is back. Akaashi wants to know more, ask how he did that, where did he come from, are the legends about his kind true; but he feels like its not really his place to know, so he keeps quiet and follows the other men until they reach another door, which is engraved with some symbols written with black ink. Akaashi feels even more skeptical about the place and has another thousand questions, but with a glance at Bokuto's face and how relaxed he seems, Akaashi decides to try and relax as well.

Terushima opens the door and lets them in first. In front of them is what looks like a bar, but it's way less crowded than the one below. When he fully closes the door is when all sound comes his way, music and conversations resonating against his ears. Most people there look normal even if they are supposed to be weird creatures or something.

"It's the last one to the left. I have to go and check on other clients up here, but if you need anything just tell one of the workers to call for me and I'll be there as fast as I can." Terushima then salutes as the glow from before engulfs him, and then he is skipping through the place and enters a room to the right on his fox form.

Bokuto leads the way now, most probably taking them towards the room Terushima talked about. As they walk towards the end of the room, Akaashi notices that some people do have some peculiarities. There's some with animal features, or even multiple human features. The one that calls his attention the most is a man near their door who seems to possess reptile eyes and fangs. The man's head turns to him, as if feeling the stare, and smiles almost devilishly. Goosebumps rise on his skin as he turns back around and enters a room with Bokuto.

Again. How the frick did Bokuto find this place.

All walls are made of glass, looking down to an interception of roads down below. There are colored lights from the cars and multiple billboards that make the dark room have a faint combination of rainbow illuminating. There's a table on the center with some chairs, and next to the door there's a huge tv that is currently off. At the left side of the room, against the glass wall, there's a jukebox and a little table with a turntable.

Bokuto sits down in front of Akaashi the moment the youngest realizes that yes, this absolutely looks and feels like a date.

"So!" Bokuto interrupts his flowing thoughts with his boisterous voice. "Here they have a totally delicious meat menu that I could literally eat everyday! Misaki is the best cook ever! Did you know that she creates her own sauces? There's like ten she made just last year! The one I like the most has dragonfruit, which in my opinion doesn't have a taste at all. But you try her sauce and it literally tastes like it somehow!? I don't understand how he does that. Oh, hi!"

Akaashi had been so absorbed in what Bokuto was saying that he didn't notice a waitress coming in. "Hello, Bokuto-san. Long time no see." The woman has a tranquil voice. And a horn.

"Oh come on Yukie, I was here like a month ago." The woman cracks a little smile and then takes a notepad out of a pocket. Bokuto looks back to Akaashi, which makes him jump a little at the sudden attention. "Do you know what to order, Akashi?"

"Yes." He hasn't even looked at the menu. "I will have a _motsunabe_ please."

The woman, Yukie apparently, notes it down and looks back up at him. "Would you like something to drink? We have our own selection of homemade beer and wine."

Bokuto shakes his hand from his place at the other side, which makes Akaashi turn his attention to him. "The beer is really good, they even have different natural tastes and stuff!" From the corner of his eyes he feels Yukie exhale deeply, probably since she was the one supposed to explain what Bokuto is saying. "There's one made with raspberries. Which sound weird, but I like it a lot! But if you want another flavor there's also honey, pepper, even ginger but that one is really strong. Not that I can't handle my liquor! It's just that last time I ordered that one my friend Kuroo made me drink like five of those as a dare and it hit me extremely fast! And that's something since its very hard for me to get drunk."

When Bokuto stops to take a breath and continue talking, Akaashi decides to speak up even if he wants to keep on listening to Bokuto. But the poor waitress looks about to run out the door, so he says "I would like the raspberry one."

Yukie nods while writing it down, and then walks out saying that their food will be there shortly, even if she didn't even take Bokuto's order. When he turns to said man to ask him, Bokuto is already explaining.

"Every time I come here I order the same stuff. Except for the time I drank those ginger beers. Ew." His disgusted expression makes Akaashi smile faintly. "Oh, and when I came with some friends and we all ordered for each other. Also when I invited Shrimpy to eat for his birthday and when I came with my volleyball team for my 158th birthday and also-"

"Your what birthday now"

Akaashi has noticed that he can tell when Bokuto is thinking. His eyes seem a little deeper in color and his thick eyebrows are not in big arcs like they are most of the time.

"Well, I am very old! But not as old as some other people out there. Yukie is a two hundred and fourty three year old _oni_ after all. I think she is one of the oldest people I know actually. Even if I met _Raijin_ some years ago! That dude is like billions years old! How awesome is that!

This is way too much for Akaashi's brain to process. "Wait, that woman was a demon? And if you could tell me how you managed to meet the God of Thunder, I would appreciate it."

And so Bokuto begins to explain that 'yes, Yukie is a demon thats why she has a horn, its obvious'. He then starts to tell some stories about how he met a God when trying to get signal on his new phone during a storm back in 2004 and accidentally called the god by catching lightning through his phone. Then he started telling the story of how he accidentally killed a _zorigami_ when he thought it was just a weird looking clock and bought it for his apartment, but then kicked it out the balcony when he sneezed and the thing said 'bless you'. Suddenly the door opens and there comes Yuki, with their drinks and food floating around her.

She sets their things down, and before exiting makes the jukebox start playing soft music with a flick of her wrist. They stay quiet for a few seconds while both take some bites from their food, but then Bokuto starts talking through bites of pork ribs, telling him about the time he went to the beach and _accidentally_ caused a flood by making a _koromodako_ mad when he tried to get on the monster's back to 'ride him like a horse'. Suddenly Akaashi noticed something and lifted his hand a little, making Bokuto quiet immediately.

"What do you mean 'went to the beach'? Aren't vampires supposed to not get into contact with the sun?"

Bokuto smiles at that while taking a sip of his beer, which Akaashi just noticed is also the raspberry flavored one and looks a little more reddish than his. He doesn't have to ask or guess why because it's very noticeable how its even a little thicker.

"Well, I wasn't born a vampire. So I can go outside during the day if I want to! The sun still makes my skin feel all _blaj_ and sometimes I even get burns, which is the worse when I have volleyball practice because it makes it hard so receive! That's why when I go out its mostly when the sky is cloudy or raining!"

Okay that makes a little more sense. He has one doubt now though. "You weren't born a vampire?"

The moment the words get past his lips, Akaashi notices how Bokuto tenses a little and looks out the window. He is about to retract himself, but the soft look on Bokuto's face makes the words stop. The older man looks back to his face and the soft look is gone as he speaks. "Its something that happened when I was younger. Like human younger. But I, um," his hand rubs at the back of his neck as he looks outside again. "I prefer not to talk about it. Another day probably! But um..."

Akaashi smiles softly at the other man, even if he feels so guilty inside for making his oh-so-confident constant vibe waver. "Don't worry about it. Now why don't you tell me more stories and things about you. You didn't finish the story about the water monster at the beach."

That makes Bokuto perk up again, making his eyes shine even more than the lights outside. He starts to talk again, telling Akaashi stories about his other mythical and 'monster' friends, how he participated in both world wars 'but I didn't use my vampiric superpowers Agaashi! I beat them with my own muscular strength!", which lead to Bokuto explaining some of his 'superhuman abilities'. He can see better than a normal person in the dark, but even better than other vampire races. There's races apparently, and he belongs to the _fukuro_ tribe. There are not many in the world, according to him and some contacts he has, which makes him proud to be 'from the last of a dying breed. But not actually dying because its very hard for us to die apparently!'. He talks about how he can eat garlic, but it makes him puke because once he ate a full jar of garlic butter that made him sick and now he can't stand the taste. When Akaashi awkwardly asks about the drinking blood stuff, Bokuto calms him down and says that he can go a few months without drinking human blood.

"Either way, my friend Kuroo works at the pharmacy in front of our building. When people do blood tests there he gives me the blood when the results are given to the patients!"

Well isn't that a little creepy. Let's change topic. "You have mentioned this Kuroo multiple times."

"Oh! That's because he's my best friend! He is the one that made the chocolate goat."

He continues to tell some hilarious stories about his best friend, even if they haven't been friends for more than two decades, they have a lifetime of adventures. Suddenly the waitress is back and Bokuto is paying, even if Akaashi tries to stop him for paying for both of them. That just gains him a wink and a promise of "you'll pay for our next date", which has Akaashi excusing himself to use the bathroom and hide in a stall to try and calm down the butterflies surging on his stomach and the blood rushing to his face.

After going out, they walk out towards the parking lot, where they find Terushima smoking with some people and they all say their goodbyes from afar. Back on the motorcycle, Akaashi puts on the helmet after a little argument on who should wear it, and then they are speeding off into the still busy streets. On their way to their apartments, Bokuto suddenly decides to stop for an ice cream, the older woman giving it to them for free since she apparently knows Bokuto (Akaashi now wonders who _doesn't_ know the guy) and 'is happy on seeing him again after a long time'. She is the third person telling him that, which makes Akaashi's head to fill with questions, but they all fade away when both men are heading towards their apartments again, Akaashi with Bokuto's jacket since "you look so cold Akashi! Your cheeks are so red!". If only Bokuto knew the cold wasn't the reason behind his blush.

When they finally get home, opening the door is harder than he can imagine. When Keiji manages to open the lock to his apartment, he turns to Bokuto, who looks as awake and shiny as the morning sun.

"Thank you for everything, Bokuto-san. I had a great time." His comment may sound just polite, but he means it. And Bokuto seems to understand this since he smiles and looks at Akaashi with softer eyes and a brilliant smile, making him remember the day they met almost a week ago.

"I also had an awesome time, Akashii! I really want to go out with you another time!" His brain seems to catch up with his mouth and he blushes a little. "If you want to! Its not like I'm telling you to go out with me again! But, um, oh. I guess that's what I'm saying."

Akaashi's features soften and he smiles lightly, making Bokuto blush a little deeper. "I would love to go out with you again, Bokuto-san."

Bokuto smiles brightly again and waves at Akaashi as he steps towards his own apartment. "Cool! Yeah! Um, I guess I'll see you later, Akashi! Have a good night!"

Akaashi opens the door while waving at Bokuto as well. After they both enter their respective apartments, he hears Bokuto's hoot of joy from the other side of the wall, which makes him smile even bigger. Akaashi has never felt happier in his whole life, the smile on his face remains up until the next day at work, and not even Oikawa's pestering can make it go away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to rewrite this TWICE because my computer just kept on failing. and i think this is the longest chapter i will ever write it was so EXHAUSTING.
> 
> The song for this chapter is from Fall Out Boy and so fitting: Akaashi being in love and Bokuto literally being one of the last of his breed lol
> 
> do people even read this end chapter notes....
> 
> Make sure to check out Suguru's [Tumblr blog](https://suguru.tumblr.com/), and if you want to chat here's [mine!](https://is-a-bell-tmblr.tumblr.com/)
> 
> here's the link to the fic's [playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4YAnv5HBcFCg6Uf5CSeHUM)


	5. Heavy

Three days have passed since they went to that restaurant for their kinda-but-not-stated date, and Bokuto has invited him out again. This time he let Akaashi pick the place where they were going.

What a mistake.

Akaashi had been looking nonstop for places that were open till the wee hours of the morning, but they were all either fast food places, bars, and strip clubs. He wants to know what Bokuto looks like without a shirt, not a random person while they dance seductively around a metal pole for the pure sake of entertainment.

So back to choosing the place, none seem like the right one to go to. A fancy restaurant is not like a place Bokuto would like very much, since he likes more places with sound and where he can be as loud as he can while talking about his interesting existence. Which is kinda the reason why they are going out again, to 'clear out more stuff about me being a vamp, Akashi!'. Or at least that what Bokuto told him and what Akaashi is trying to believe to not get hope that they are actually going out on dates instead of history classes.

A karaoke place calls his attention, even if he knows he will never go there to sing but to eat good food on a cabin without people judging how much sake he takes, when a text from Bokuto makes him almost drop his phone. A little squeak leaves his lips, followed by a laugh at how ridiculous he has been by feeling so nervous about this. Akaashi opens the text and sees that Bokuto is apparently running out of patience. So he tells him about the karaoke place. The other man doesn't answer, which makes him worry about his sudden decision, but then his phone starts to ring and Keiji immediately answers without knowing what to expect.

"I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO GO THERE BUT NEVER GATHER ENOUGH PEOPLE HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT"

"Hello to you too, Bokuto-san." A little giggle escapes his lips at the other's outburst. He can literally hear the blush in Bokuto's voice.

"Um, hi! Sorry for yelling, you probably heard me through the wall as well. What?" A voice sounds in the distance, which makes Akaashi frown a little. Does Bokuto have someone over? "Oh right, sorry." His voice sounds distant but in a moment he is back directly talking through the phone's speaker. "So! I really think you are a mind reader or something."

Akaashi tries to keep on the conversation but his curiosity takes over. "Bokuto-san, do you have someone over? We can talk later if you want. We literally live beside each other so it's not a bother."

"What?" he sounds genuinely confused until a huge laugh, that Akaashi thinks he can hear on the other side of his bedroom wall, makes him pull the phone away from his ear. "No! That was just one of my roommates. He works from home and was at a conference or something, so he told me to, and I quote," his voice suddenly becomes low as a whisper and a little higher, but he sounds kinda angry. "Fuck off Bokuto" He laughs again, and this time Akaashi joins him quietly.

"I didn't know you had a roommate"

"Oh I actually have two! Well, like four if you count the animals."

Suddenly there's a sound like something dropping on the other side of the wall and the call gets cut off. Akaashi looks at his phone, then at the wall, as if trying to see through it and find what happened to Bokuto. Then there's someone knocking on his door, and there's no need to guess who it is. When he opens the door, there's the other man he was just talking to, standing with sweats and a hoodie with the hood up covering most of his face. Either way, his huge smile is still visible.

"Hey Akaashi! Sorry for intruding, but Kenma made my phone die again. So I, um, I wanted to keep on talking to you and that's why I came." He circles his index fingers around each other as he looks to the side, his smile turns sheepish until Akaashi steps aside and gestures him to come inside. His smile is big and bright again as he walks with a little skip on his step that is very adorable to Keiji. He then suddenly stops at the end of the entrance hallway and turns to Akaashi with a little pained expression that gets swept away in a second, as if it was never there.

"Would you mind, um-" He glances to the opened curtains and Akaashi immediately goes to close them tightly, making sure there is not a single string of the morning sunlight peaking inside. When he turns around, Bokuto is already sitting down on the couch and getting comfortable. "Thanks Akashi! You know, sometimes it's kinda weird to not be able to receive sun directly since it itches, it makes me look like a plain white bread without a tan."

Akaashi shakes the need to laugh as he walks towards the kitchen. "You don't look as 'a plain white bread', Bokuto-san. Would you like something to drink?"

"Do you have anything sweet?"

Bokuto obviously has a sweet tooth, now that he thinks about it he seems like the type. "Hot or cold?"

The other makes a humming sound before answering "Hot is alright i guess. Oh! Do you have any fruit tea?"

"I have some homemade peach tea my mom dropped off yesterday. Would you like some?" He turns to see Bokuto nodding furiously, which makes him lightly smile. He has never smiled so much for such a prolonged time, but here comes Bokuto Koutarou, ruining his depressed anxious boy aesthetic and turning it into a falling in love vibe.

Wait, _what._

_Don't think about that, Keiji. Focus on not passing the boiling point of the tea so that you won't burn your tongue again._ Oh its already bubbling. _Guess it was already kinda warm from last night._

He pours some in two teacups with little owls on them, a gift from his aunt since he 'is now a bigger boy for moving into the city'. He thought they looked kinda childish, but the smile Bokuto gives him when he comes back, and how it grows when he sees the teacups, makes him forget about it.

"Those are strix uralensis right?" Silence. "I guess you don't know." He laughs softly while taking the cup and tracing the little owl drawing. "They are from the strigidae family! They are like my cousins or something, and they live here in Japan and some in Europe. I have a friend who tried training one but they are too innocent to do anything that he wanted, I told him" He then makes a bad impression of himself. "Tanaka, if you want a killer owl, you should get a great horned owl! Like me!"

Akaashi takes a little sip of his tea to hide his smile before talking. "I was wondering what breed you were related to since you told me that you were an 'owl-vampire' at the restaurant the other night."

Bokuto looks away from the owl imprints and smiles softly, as if he didn't think Akaashi would remember or something among that line of thought. The expression takes Keiji off-guard and he looks away for a moment, feeling a blush creeping up to his cheeks. When he turns back to the other man, the expression is gone, but the soft lines around the smile remain.

"Well yeah! Im a _fukuro_. When I transform I become a great horned owl, which is pretty cool if you ask me."

Akaashi is about to make a comment about it, but then a question pops on his head and he immediately asks it. "Wait, if you are like part owl and not type bat like other vampires, why do you need to drink blood?"

Bokuto strangely lightens up at the question, he starts to move his hands around as he does when he is about to talk about something that excites him, so Akaashi takes the cup out of his hands carefully to put it on the table. Their fingers brush, which makes Akaashi stop for a second but it gets forgotten when the other man starts talking. "Kuroo figured it out about a year ago! Owls eat other animals, right? It's in their nature to eat even other owls! Which I find kind of like betrayal but it doesn't matter. So since they eat other owls, then it's in my nature to like, eat other humans I guess? WHICH I HAVE NEVER DONE AND WILL NEVER DO!" He shakes his arms around as if to calm Keiji down, which is not necessary since he is not alarmed at all, the thought didn't even cross his mind until Bokuto mentioned it. "So, instead of eating other people, I drink their blood. But its just like six times a year or so, which means I can go around eating food all I want as long as I get my blood refill!"

Akaashi blinks at the other and offers him a little smile to comfort the visibly shaken man by the share of such information, which he guesses is kinda more personal than they both thought now that it has been said. Akaashi tries to find another topic, and he does. "Who's Kenma?"

Bokuto looks confused as why Akaashi knows the name, when there's a bang next door and he smiles, standing up and walking to the door. "Wait right there!"

Akaashi doesn't have a good feeling about this. They were having a good time alone, even if it got a little awkward with the blood topic. But now Bokuto looks more animated than ever, so it doesn't matter what or who he is about to bring inside as he hears voices outside.

He did not expect a man with rooster hair wearing a lab coat and another small man with a bad dye job that makes him look like a pudding, though.

"Since you wanted to know, THIS is Kenma!"

The small man looks up from his phone in between a curtain of his hair at the mention of his name. He looks kinda sheepishly at Akaashi, as if saying 'sorry for intruding he made me come here', he then turns to glare literal daggers at Bokuto. "Bokuto, what am I doing here?"

Akaashi snorts a laugh when he identifies the voice as the one Bokuto did an impression of when they were on the phone. The other two stop their discussion turn to him, which makes him immediately compose himself, and apparently they don't notice him laughing. He bows his head while introducing himself. "I'm Akaashi Keiji, pleasure to meet you."

Something in the small man's face changes, but Akaashi can't analyze it further since the taller, _way taller_, man with black hair hooks an arm around his shoulders and laughs. "Oh ho ho. So this is the Akaashi you're always talking about, Bo."

"WHAT! I don't always talk about him!"

The man by his side smirks as Akaashi tries to get his arm off his shoulders, uncomfortable with the close contact. He gets free but the man takes his hand, leaning down to leave a kiss on top of it. _What is it with Bokuto's friends and introducing themselves like this._

"I'm Kuroo Tetsurou." They both turn to Kenma as he is the one who snorts a laugh now while typing something on his phone. At closer inspection, Akaashi realizes that he is actually playing a game that he doesn't recognize. His attention goes back to Kuroo when the man pulls on his hand a little before letting go. "Ignore the little man, he is always being absorbed either by work or a weird game."

Kenma turns his phone off and glares at him. "I'm not that way"

"Yes you are." Both Bokuto and Kuroo answer. Kenma then kicks Bokuto on the shin and takes a step closer to Akaashi.

"I'm Kozume Kenma. Sorry for, um" He hides his face behind his face "forcing ourselves inside. Bokuto didn't give us another chance when he noticed Tetsurou came home."

First name basis with just one of them, huh?

He shakes the thought off for later. "Don't worry about it. It's actually nice to meet the people Bokuto-san is constantly talking about."

Kenma shrugs, but he sees a little blush color his nose as he takes a one second glance at the buff man beside him. Akaashi's attention gets dragged towards Bokuto and Kuroo's conversation, which is what he would expect of this two from what he has heard from the vampire.

"Dude, no. I can't turn him into a kitten. I barely managed to make him be a hairless cat."

Bokuto looks disappointed. "Yeah, but just imagine what Da-" He notices Akaashi's attention on them and immediately turns to him without a doubt. "Hey Akaashi! Can they stay?" Akaashi shrugs and then nods slightly. Bokuto immediately perks up. "Would you mind giving them some of your mom's peach tea? It's very good!"

"Sure. You can all take a seat if you want to." As he walks to the kitchen he can't help the wide smile stretching across his lips as he sees Bokuto sitting crisscross on the couch with the cup of tea with owl drawings as he tells Kuroo something about 'a new idea to get natural chocolate milk', as Kenma snuggles close to the dark haired man on the love seat near the window, playing with the bean bag with his feet.

A strange feeling consumes him, making him calm down, both mentally and physically. As he walks back to the cramped living room with drinks and some cookies in hand, he can't help but remember that the last time he felt this happy and serene, his father had been alive.

_I think they will make you feel at home again._

His father's voice resounds in his head as he sets the things down on the table. It makes him startle, Bokuto giving him a weird but worried look that Akaashi shrugs away.

_I hope you're right, touchan._

\----------

Akaashi is supposed to be at work in about an hour, but here he is, having lunch and a few beers with people Bokuto brought into his apartment five hours ago.

He doesn't want to leave, though.

Even more with the current discussion that has even Kenma involved, his phone long forgotten by the wall with a charger on.

"What I'm saying, Kuroo, is that if you were to make the proton pack, then trapping ghosts from last patients that blame you for their deaths would be even easier."

Kuroo takes a swing off his third beer, even if it's obvious that alcohol takes a huge toll on him, and he then points accusingly at Bokuto. "That would be morally incorrect and you now it."

"Fuck morals! They are taking the gummy vitamins! I eat those and if you run out of stock then there will be another ghost hunting us both."

"Both of you are stupid for arguing about this. Tetsurou, you have a phd in biochemistry and are getting a doctorate. I expected more than this."

Kuroo looks even more offended now that the tiny man spoke up. But before he can say anything, Bokuto turns to Akaashi. "Hey Akaash'! What do you think of this?"

"I don't understand why you're arguing about the creation of a machine that appears in a science fiction movie from 1984."

"Akaashiiiii" Bokuto whines as he drops on Akaashi's side, making them both lean to the side from Bokuto's weight. Akaashi tries to push him off gently when his phone rings, the name 'Fumiko-san' lighting up the screen. He excuses himself and walks to the kitchen as Bokuto, barely intoxicated even if he has had five beers already (how his body can take that, Akaashi will never know, apparently he likes the taste), resumes his conversation with Kuroo, who interrupts his conversation with Kenma to bicker back.

"Good evening Fumiko-san. Is everything alright?" Worry starts to tint his voice since the woman never calls him, unless there's an emergency.

"Hello dear, I'm fine don't worry about it." Her voice sounds shaky, making Akaashi worry even more. "I just had a little inconvenience with Satori and we will have to close the shop for today."

Akaashi feels guilty for how happy he feels that he doesn't have to go work anymore, basically giving him a long break since he changed tomorrow's shift with Oikawa so that he could get his internet and TV properly installed. "Is Tendou-san okay?"

Fumiko giggles a little. "Yeah, he got on a little accident earlier today with his motorcycle. Nothing big, no one got hurt. But the other man involved is a foreigner and got very mad. He is trying to press charges even if Satori is not the one to blame."

Akaashi sighs when he hears that his coworker is physically alright. "I'll talk with him later to calm him down if you want. Are his parents still out of town?"

"Thank you, honey. And unfortunately, yes. They are coming back in about two weeks, but sent their lawyer in case anything happens."

Akaashi can't help but feel a little mad himself. Tendou is such a good guy, deep veeery deep down, and for his own parents to be so absent to almost all of their son's life is not acceptable in any way. He takes a breath while playing with the hem of his shirt, his fingers aching to move. "If either of you need anything, please call me."

"Oh, don't worry. I can hear you have people over." Akaashi becomes aware that he had tuned out the conversation from the other room, Kuroo's weird laugh resounding on his apartment walls, making his anxiety come down somehow. "Go on and have some fun sweetie. I'll see you later on the week. I have some matters to talk with you about a little schedule change."

After saying their farewells, Akaashi stays looking down to the kitchen counter. He suddenly feels a hand on his shoulder that makes him jolt a little. A small apology makes him turn around, Bokuto and him now face to face. He tilts his head up a little to look the other in the eye, forcing a serene expression.

"Are you alright, Akaashi?"

"Yes." Bokuto tilts his head a little to the side, as if knowing that Akaashi was not feeling all that good. His big, shiny eyes reflect the light from the light above, his face a little obscure from how he is tilting his head a little down. He offers Akaashi a small smile as if to encourage him to say more. The younger man feels something in his gut, but its not Bokuto trying that thing he did when they met. This is more trustful, more natural. As if his body is telling him that he can trust Bokuto to calm his anxiety.

_Home._

His father's voice doesn't make him startle this time. He looks more deeply into Bokuto's eyes as his hands play with themselves between their bodies. "I got a call from my boss telling me that I don't have to go to work today, but it's because a coworker of mine got into a motorcycle incident." Bokuto frowns a little at that, but he keeps his small and soft smile, kind of as if he knows it calms Keiji down. "He is alright, thankfully. But, I don't know, I think the bare fact that he got into an accident shook me a little."

Bokuto doesn't react loudly or anything like the 'Bokuto' Akaashi has known for this short amount of time. On the other hand, he puts his hands over Akaashi's and makes them stop fiddling with themselves. His smile relaxes as he looks down, moving his hands up Akaashi's arms and stroking his forearms softly. Akaashi immediately relaxes even more, releasing a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Why don't we watch a movie? I think Kuroo has to go sleep some to be able to be sane for his night classes. I'll tell Kenma to take him back to our apartment and I can stay here for a while." His eyes go up to Akaashi's again, who's breath is cut short when he sees the sincerity and pure _innocence_ pouring out of Bokuto's golden orbs. Akaashi simply nods, making Bokuto's smile change again, it becomes more relieved. He gives his forearms a little squeeze before going out. Yelling at Kuroo, who has his head resting on Kenma's shoulder, the smaller man looking disgusted but worried at his friend at the same time. Bokuto says something to Kenma, who simply nods and helps Bokuto pick Kuroo up before he falls asleep. Meanwhile, Akaashi stays in the kitchen, looking amazed at how Bokuto was all quiet and private just a second ago as they talked in between whispers together, and he is now joking about how Kuroo being the worst person when it comes to alcohol. His thoughts stop as he realizes then that Bokuto was standing so close since he probably noticed that Akaashi wasn't alright, so the other covered him from Kenma and Kuroo's sight in case something happened.

Just how anxious had he looked for Bokuto to have been so considerate?

He looks at them stumble towards the door as Kuroo lets his legs go limp as a joke, Kenma's eyes are stuck on Akaashi's face though, a little frown covering his child like features. Kenma then turns to look at Bokuto, and does something he hadn't done all day. He smiles.

Akaashi must look a little taken back, since the other hides his smile with his hair and waves with the hand that is not supporting the tallest man. Akaashi gives him a small wave back, a tiny smile tugging at his lips seeing how drunk Kuroo actually is and it's not even 4 pm.

A few minutes later, Bokuto is back. He has a laptop in one hand, his other hand ruffling his now not so gelled hair as he takes the hood off. The small window on the hallway must have bothered him a little from the grimace he has. _I'll talk with Sugawara to see what we can do about that._

He walks to where Bokuto lets his laptop down after pouring himself a glass of water. Bokuto goes to the living room and starts picking up his and Kuroo's empty bottles and all of the trash from the take out food they had ordered. Akaashi lets his glass down and gets a trash bag, helping Bokuto put everything away. After they are done, Bokuto takes the bag and places it by the front door, probably to throw it in the trash can outside later. He comes back and takes his laptop again.

"Do you want to watch it here?" He gestures to the living room and Akaashi nods. Both sit down and Bokuto opens his laptop, setting it on the table in front of them after pulling it closer. Akaashi looks at him as he types in the password and waits for it to properly turn on. Akaashi notices the slope of his nose, how the tip goes a little up, how his jaw clenches as he waits, which makes his jawline pop off more. He notices Bokuto's cheekbones, even if his cheeks are a little chubbier at the top near his eyes and nose. His shoulders go up and down slowly as he takes deep, calming breaths. His hair is now mostly pushed back, no longer in tall spikes like earlier. The two toned hairs are mixed in between each other, making his hair look kind of a silver color, making Keiji want to reach out to touch it and figure out if it's actually as soft as it looks. Akaashi then notices how Bokuto pulls his sleeves over his hands, how his eyes glance at the glass balcony doors that are covered in the cloth of the curtains. Is then that the host sees how now that the sun has gone a little lower, the light from outside is stronger and hits the window with force, making the thin curtains not retain much of it. Akaashi stands up, Bokuto looks up at him with a question in his eyes.

"Come on, the curtains in my room are thicker than this ones, the sun barely gets through them."

The owlish man glances at the curtains and then at Akaashi, smiling in relief. "Thank you, Akash'."

Akaashi is glad he always keeps his room organized, the only messy thing are the all-time mess of sheets and blankets on his bed. He has so many that its hard to make the bed, so he just doesn't bother on doing it. It's like a fluffy nest for him to cocoon himself in after work.

Akaashi sits down on his bed while Bokuto stands by the door with his laptop open, looking around. He pats the side beside him to call Bokuto's attention, which he manages. They are both now sat with their backs to the wall, where Akaashi had pushed the bed about a week ago after falling off of it when it was more towards the center.

"So this is our movie laptop. Kenma has like a lot of computers because of his job, so we decided to empty one of his old ones and fill it up with downloaded movies so that when we want to watch a movie we don't have to wait for it to load with the internet!"

Akaashi lets himself relax against a pillow as he smiles "That sounds like a fantastic idea, if you ask me"

"I had it!" Bokuto beams with a proud light. "Since I'm obviously the oldest one, I am the one in charge of downloading good movies. All the ones here are pure masterpieces."

"Let me be the judge of that."

Bokuto glances back as he opens an app that looks like a menu, probably something Kenma did for the little portable cinema. They look over the movies, Akaashi making his comments about some options as Bokuto explains the plot of the ones he doesn't recognize. They end up choosing an American movie, since apparently both of them are fluent in English, 'I've had a lot of free time' was Bokuto's excuse. It sounded more like a sad whine than something he wants to continue talking about, so Akaashi lets the topic die there.

The movie is a classic, The Breakfast Club. It manages to make them both laugh. The first time Akaashi laughs at loud at the protagonists' antics, Bokuto turns to look at him with a surprised face. Akaashi covers his lips and tries to calm his laughter down, but it just keeps on spilling out after seeing how John makes fun of the teacher when he leaves the room. Bokuto smiles brightly and puts an arm around Akaashi's shoulders after the laughter fit comes down. They both relax against each other, giggling at the dancing scene and complaining about the script.

When the movie ends they watch another one, and another one, and on and on until they both end up falling asleep, Bokuto holding Akaashi close to him as they rest their heads one on top of the other, legs tangled and the blankets up to their hips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the song is Heavy by Linkin Park, which is basically about being anxious and worrying about other's problems and stuff, so it fits Akaashi i guess  
i refuse to look this over so IF THERE ARE ANY MISTAKES IS BC THIS IS THE DRAFT HOHOHO
> 
> Make sure to check out Suguru's [Tumblr blog](https://suguru.tumblr.com/), and if you want to chat here's [mine!](https://is-a-bell-tmblr.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Here's the link to the fic's [playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4YAnv5HBcFCg6Uf5CSeHUM)


	6. Can't Help Falling In Love

Akaashi wakes up in the middle of the night feeling cold. He looks around as he tries to sit up, but something is not letting him do it.

More like _someone_.

He looks down at Bokuto's relaxed face, the soft light from the laptop on top of them being the only source of illumination. He puts the device away, but while trying to do so he bumps Bokuto, who groggily moves around and takes Akaashi tighter between his thick arms. Akaashi looks down at him astonished, he can feel heat on his face, but his chest is still cold. He pulls the covers up and hides them underneath the warmth.

It feels like forever when he wakes again. Bokuto is still sleeping beside him, slowly snoring, with his arms still tight around his torso. Akaashi fumbles around with precaution until he finds his phone at a side. _8:42_. Not so late, he is usually awake at this hour when he has an early shift. But today is his free day, what the heck is he doing awake.

Bokuto mumbles something, finally loosing up his arms a little. Akaashi escapes his hold and walks to the bathroom, where he takes a piss and washes his face. There's a cowlick a the back of his head, something that happens often due to how curly his hair gets when its long, which its happening by the way. He needs a haircut.

Akaashi stops on his way to the kitchen, looking at the curtains as if they personally offend him. He walks back to the closet where he keeps all the towels and blankets and pulls one large, thick blanket out to hang it over the curtains, masking the room in complete darkness just as his room. He walks around and turns a lamp on, keeping the place dim and calm. Walking through the kitchen he realizes how rested he feels, may it be since he knows there's nothing to do today or if he actually slept good while having Bokuto by his side, providing him protection and warmth he didn't know he craved.

Welp, now he feels kinda lonely.

He walks around the kitchen, deciding to make some chocolate pancakes for Bokuto. He walks around gathering the ingredients while humming to a High School Musical song that has been in his head since yesterday when Bokuto insisted they watch the movie since 'it's a classic as well Akaashi, you cannot deny that Sharpay's development is a work of art carved by gods'.

Keiji is now on his fourth pancake when he hears his room door creak open. From the corner of his eye he sees Bokuto rub his eyes while stretching, walking towards the kitchen basically dragging his feet. He took off his hoodie before coming out apparently, so the shirt riles up as he stretches his arms to the ceiling to pop his back, his abs peak out more when he ruffles his hair at the end, now ridden from all gel it hangs down like when Akaashi found him outside his apartment door about more than two weeks ago now. Bokuto looks at Keiji while sniffing the air, a sleepy smile showing on his features.

"Is that chocolate I smell?"

The raven haired man smiles and hums in affirmation as Bokuto sits down on a kitchen stool. "Would you like some coffee?" He nods with his eyes closed. "With space for milk and sugar I suppose?" Bokuto smiles and nods again, laying his face on the table. They keep on being silent as Akaashi passes the pancakes and the things for coffee over. Suddenly Bokuto is humming, and Keiji realizes he kept on humming songs from High School Musical. Both of them are now softly mumbling the words to The Start Of Something New as Akaashi moves around the kitchen and Bokuto prepares his coffee. Then they both start eating their pancakes, Bokuto slowly waking up as he takes small sips of his super sugary coffee. Both finally wake enough to talk, more like Bokuto tells him stuff and Akaashi comments here and there while listening, until someone knocks on his door. Bokuto stands up to open the door without letting Keiji react, and suddenly there's a voice of a stranger.

"Yes, he lives here." He hears Bokuto answer. Akaashi decides to see who it is when he sees Bokuto and a man walking down the hallway. "Oh Akash'! He's here to install the internet thingy."

"Hi, are you Akaashi Keiji?" The man looks like he's in his late fifties, and he notices a golden band hanging off a thin chain on his neck. The stranger has a tool box and a backpack with him.

"Yes, follow me please." He stops in front of Bokuto as he passes him, "You can go and keep on eating breakfast if you want to, Bokuto-san." Bokuto lingers a second but then walks to the kitchen silently, taking his phone out and checking something on it as he drinks some coffee.

Akaashi then leads the man to where he wants the modem box to be, and he gets down to work. Akaashi lingers behind him just in case he needs something, when suddenly the man glances at him and speaks up.

"Sorry for coming so early. Something came up and I had to come as fast as I could. I tried calling, but you didn't answer the phone, so I gave it a try on coming here in hopes to catch you home."

Akaashi feels a little ashamed at that. "It's alright. Sorry for not answering."

The man shrugs a little. "Don't worry about it. I can see you're a little busy here. Did you two just move in?"

"Not really. I've been living here for like three weeks, he is just a friend who lives next door." The man throws him a look over his shoulder that makes Akaashi realize his words. "It's not- it's not like that at all, sir. Oh no, please don't get me wrong, we just hung out yesterday and-"

The man laughs. "You don't have to explain it to me, son. I understand. I have experience with those type of assumptions."

Akaashi is clearly confused. "You do?" He may sound intrusive, but the other caught his attention.

The man takes some things out of his little box of tools and starts doing something with electricity cables that Akaashi doesn't understand a bit. It's then that he notices that the man can probably see Bokuto behind him every time he glances back, which somehow unsettles him. Akaashi turns around the moment Bokuto turns to look down at his phone, a faint pink color on his ears. He hears the man chuckle.

"Sorry for intruding this way, but my son and his husband used to be like that around each other at the beginning as well. They started in high school, so me and my wife had to brace all the dancing around each other phase. And let me tell you, son." He stands up and looks Akaashi in the eye, being a little bit shorter than the young man. "It's better that you do something about it fast, because someday you will wish that you had made a move earlier and not wasted so much time."

The soft smile the man gives him as he goes to his backpack to get something makes Akaashi stop for a second, a little memory of his dad triggered on his brain.

_Don't waste time on dancing around other people when you could be dancing with them._

Akaashi goes back to the kitchen as the man keeps on working. Bokuto starts talking to him as soon as he steps into the room.

"Can you believe Kuroo is at work, with five patients in the small pharmacy clinic and the main doctor is not there. The poor fool is hungover and barely slept since he went to class last night." Bokuto laughs and then turns his phone around to show Akaashi a picture of Kuroo checking someone's swollen hand as he has a water bottle hanging from a pocket, what looks like coffee on a hand, and has sunglasses stuck on his even wilder hair and he squints at the stranger. "Kenma is there to make him some company since I wasn't awake to go there when the sun was still dim. But i think it's funnier this way, Kenma totally hates it there!."

Akaashi huffs out a little laugh before sitting down beside Bokuto and continuing on eating his food. About ten minutes later, the man tells him that he is finished, he apologizes again for coming so early and Akaashi walks him to the door. When he is about to go out he turns around slightly.

"Oh! My son will come at about 4 to bring and install the TV. If there's any inconvenience, I will call you to let you know." They both smile and the man leaves.

Akaashi walks to the kitchen again, where Bokuto picked the dishes up and is currently washing them. Keiji walks over and when he notices how much fun the other is having with the bubbles, he starts helping by patting the dishes dry and putting them on their place. Their little dynamic gets interrupted when Bokuto starts talking again, but this time quieter.

"Do you, um, want me to stay here? I can go if you want to! But since the man said that more people will come to help you with the TV stuff, then I don't know if you, you know, want me here or anything. We spent all yesterday together, so there's no need for me to stay obviously, I could just-"

"Bokuto-san." Both quiet and look at each other, Akaashi exhaling when even he is feeling breathless at all the things Bokuto just spilled out. "If you want to stay then you can. But I think it's better that we both take a shower first."

The taller man looks down to his clothes from yesterday and laughs a little, his left hand rubbing at his neck. "Yeah, I think we should do that. But not like together, I'll go to my apartment. Cause you know, showering together is not what friends do, you know." Both of them turn extremely red. "I will be going now. Yup."

Bokuto waves a little and basically sprints out of the apartment, leaving Akaashi feeling as hot as hell and looking like a tomato.

Let's just say both of them took their time in the shower.

\----------

"Oho Conan Doyle, I wasn't expecting a call from you."

"Hello, Tendou-san." Akaashi and Bokuto decided to order pizza for lunch, and apparently Bokuto knows the pizza worker who delivered their food, since they are now having a talk at Akaashi's front door. So he took the opportunity to call Tendou, still a little worried from the news given to him yesterday. "How are you?"

"Oh, well, thank you for asking! How lovely." His voice gets a little lower and less animated, probably knowing the purpose of the call. "I'm doing good actually. The guy is still fighting to sue me or some shit, but nobody else is helping him since he was the one who caused the crash! What an idiot."

Akaashi hums. "How did you crash? Fumiko-san didn't tell me that detail."

"Oh so she was the one who spilled the beans! Well, he tried to get in front of my motorcycle as soon as the light turned green, so my front crashed with the side of his _rented_ car. But I sped up too fast, that's why the police decided it was partly my fault as well after bickering for a little bitty time and I have to pay for like 25% of the repairs for the car. Oh boomer! But the good thing is that the man at fault paid for my motorcycle! His freaking wallet will be empty after paying for one of Japan's most beautiful antiques." He laughs loudly, which makes Akaashi giggle as Bokuto finally comes inside with the pizza box. He looks at him weirdly, as if he has grown a second head, and Akaashi turns around more for him to see the phone. Bokuto nods and goes to the living room with the pizza, to where they have the laptop with a new movie on.

Akaashi listens as Tendou complains about how it has been difficult to find original pieces for the motorcycle, he walks to the living room with Bokuto and joins him on the couch. After trying to take a piece of pizza with one hand, which resulted in him almost dropping it, the phone ends up on speaker and laying on the table next to the laptop. The man on the other side of the line is still complaining when Bokuto perks up.

"Are you perhaps talking about motorcycles?"

"Oh wow yes! Who's this?" Tendou's voice sounds as if he already knows, which worries Akaashi a little. _What is this man about to do_

"I'm Bokuto! Akaashi's friend. I have a motorcycle too, you know! But from what you're saying I can tell yours is waaay older."

Tendou laughs, this time more quiet than the last. "Well, well, well. It's good to finally put a voice to the name. I'm Tendou."

Bokuto turns to Akaashi and mouths 'the accident guy', to which he nods. Bokuto then starts talking to Tendou about his motorcycle, which leads to them having a discussion about which one is the best. As they talk, Akaashi stays silent, but his eyes speak for him as he looks at Bokuto in wonder. The man is happy, radiating an energy that only he possesses. His voice is constantly going up and down as their discussion heats up now and then, but the thing that makes him shine even more is when he laughs. His eyes close as he throws his head back, the loud laugh escaping his lips while clasping his stomach as if he cannot contain the laughter and it causes him a good kind of pain. Every time he opens his eyes again, they shine brighter than ever. Akaashi has come to terms that Bokuto's eyes reflect light more than human's do, since when it's darker they seem to emit a dim light that embraces even the darkest of corners. But it's not only when they are obscured by darkness, but also when he is happy. When he smiles, laughs, or is just merrily relaxed, like yesterday when they were watching movies, his eyes emit a low glow that is warm to the sight. Akaashi doesn't know if its something he can control or not, but either way, it's extremely adorable. It makes it easier to know when Bokuto is genuinely happy. Which makes Akaashi be happy and less anxious as well, so it's mostly a win.

Keiji hears his name be called, his eyes trailing from Bokuto's face to his phone. "What?"

Both men laugh, Tendou trying to speak through it. "I said, are you getting bored Akaashi? Since you haven't spoken in like ten minutes."

_Has it really being that long?_Oh, the call has been going on for 16:38 minutes already. "I'm here, I just don't know much about the topic of this conversation."

Bokuto laughs softly as he leans back on the sofa, putting an arm almost instinctively around Akaashi, his hand resting on the couch cushion behind them. Is now that Akaashi realizes how close they are, and have been all of this time. Their thighs pressed together, and now their sides as well. _Since when am I this comfortable around a hot guy._

"Then let's change the convo!" Tendou sounds like when he is about to tease Oikawa about something, which is never good. "Why didn't you tell me before that you had your boyfriend over! Maybe one day you could bring him to the book shop so we can finally meet."

He can feel Bokuto tense a little at the b-word that shall not be pronounced out loud ever again. With a glance to the side, he finds Bokuto is subtly looking at him too, which makes them both look away with an even deeper blush on their cheeks.

"No to both of them, Tendou-san."

"What do you mean?" How can he sound like if he is truthfully confused, when in reality he is probably trying so hard not to laugh, is the reason why Akaashi has trust issues.

"What I mean" he clears his throat when his voice crack a little. "is that Bokuto is not my boyfriend, and I will not take him to meet you at the shop just because you decided it was alright to add that comment as a conversation starter."

Tendou laughs loudly again, even dragging a little one out of Bokuto. Akaashi turns to him, as Bokuto gives him a wink, which makes Akaashi melt right then and there. Bokuto finally speaks, making Akaashi's melting moment freeze and make him become rock solid again from how stupid these two guys are.

"Yeah, I'm Akaashi's fiancee, not just his boyfriend now. And we will be going to our secret wedding and honeymoon for the next few weeks." Bokuto is literally vibrating from how much he wants to keep his laughter in, which makes Akaashi almost snort a laugh out as well. They both wait for Tendou to answer, but his side of the line is just quiet for a few second until he starts yelling so much that the microphone can barely stand it.

"AKAASHI IF THIS IS TRUE I WILL LITERALLY WALK ALL THE WAY OVER TO YOUR APARTMENT AND TAKE YOU AS A HOSTAGE SO YOU CAN TELL ME HOW THE HELL THIS HAPPENED." He takes a deep breath before yelling again. "NO WAKATOSHI I WILL NOT SHUT UP I THINK MY FRIEND GOT ENGAGED AND DID NOT TELL ME. AKAASHI PLEASE SPEAK UP AND CALM A POOR MAN'S SOUL."

Neither of them can contain the laughter anymore and let it all out, making Tendou stop talking and start fake sobbing, saying how he has been betrayed. Akaashi decides to calm the man, since he sounds like he is about to cry for real. "We are just friends. I can't believe you believe me capable of getting engaged to a man I met not even a month ago."

Tendou fake sobs again. "Well no! You just talk so much about him at work that I thought he was the one ya know? I was about to look for wedding gifts, I put on my shoes and everything." A faint voice in the background. "I know I didn't put them on, 'Toshi, I'm just trying to make them feel bad."

Bokuto laughs again. "I literally cannot believe you fell for that."

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND BOKUTO, BUT YOU'RE LIKE AKAASHI." he then stops and starts laughing, which makes the other two laugh as well, making them all sound like maniacs. After all of them calm down, Tendou speaks again. "You really are meant for each other, ugh. I have to go and make lunch, but it was such a not pleasure talking to you both."

"See you man! I'll try to convince 'Kaashi to let me go and meet you one of this days."

Tendou makes a victory noise. "I'll help ya out from my side then, but it's just so I can take personal revenge on you for making my heart skip a beat. Bye suckers."

After hanging up, more than 20 minutes had passed. The pizza is kind of cold, but Akaashi's way too comfortable slouching against Bokuto to go heat it up. They silently eat as the movie starts, they decided to start a Harry Potter movie marathon, even if the British accent makes it difficult for them to understand some sentences. Thanks to this fact their new rule when watching movies in English is 'no subtitles' and the one who subconsciously tries to repeat a scene the most, will make dinner later in the evening. They are halfway through the second movie when Bokuto seems to be getting restless, his leg has started to jump up and down, his hand going to his mouth now and then to bite at his cuticles.

"Bokuto-san, are you alright." The man in question jumps when Akaashi talks so suddenly, his hand goes to his hair and pushes it back. Since they were just having a lazy day, he didn't put gel on it, instead having it brushed back to keep the long locks out of his face.

"Um, yeah." Akaashi looks intently at his face, Bokuto looks away and gulps. "Well, um, I just want to cuddle with you so bad right now."

Akaashi lifts and eyebrow, _don't you dare blush Keiji._ "We are already very close, Bokuto-san."

Bokuto's cheeks get painted with an adorable red color, and it spreads all the way to his neck when he looks at Akaashi's face again. "Yeah I know, I just, I don't know. Forget about it."

Akaashi takes a hold of the hand hanging by his shoulder, which makes Bokuto jump a little at the contact. His hand tries to retract itself, but Bokuto takes a breath and lets it be, stroking Keiji's hand with his thumb slowly. "You can tell me."

The man stays looking at he screen, but then his eyes turn to Akaashi and he melts looking at the beautiful golden gleam in the dark. "Um, I just, it's a vampire thing. Yes, an owl vampire thing." Akaashi nods his head to make him keep on talking. "Owls are very cuddly animals, and kind of, um, possessive at times. That's the main reason why I love hugging and stuff. I'm just constantly craving physical contact."

Akaashi thinks that is absolutely adorable. But he would obviously not say so at loud. Instead, he tries to get Bokuto to say what he actually wants. "Do you need something? Or do you need _me_ to do something?"

"I don't want to bother you! A blanket's fine. Warm places make me feel more at home at times like this."

At the mention of home, Akaashi notices that this is a little more deep than just wanting to cuddle. Bokuto keeps his eyes locked on the screen, even if he obviously knows that Akaashi is looking at him. His brows are knitted together, his mouth is closed tight and even with the light of the screen his eyes look dull of emotion. No, more like sad, lonely.

Akaashi stands up and walks to his room, bringing with him one fuzzy blanket and a bag of candy he always keeps on his nightstand. He places the bag on the table and the blanket on his shoulders as he sits back on his place next to Bokuto, even closer this time. The blanket is then thrown over both their shoulders, Bokuto's arm on his back again. Akaashi decides to give him some physical comfort as well, so he tucks his legs underneath himself and hugs Bokuto's waist. His head rests on Bokuto's shoulder as he looks back at the screen.

"If there's anything wrong, you can tell me. And if you don't feel comfortable telling me, then I hope this is enough."

Bokuto exhales and caresses the other's back softly. "This is more than enough, Akaashi. And, um, I'll tell you later. I promise."

Akaashi nods as he notices Bokuto's body get rid of all the tension. As the movie comes to an end and the next one starts to play, the soft and warm environment lulling him to sleep. His eyes close slowly, subconscious drifting away. He hears Bokuto mumble something to him, but he is already asleep when he tries to figure out what it was.

When he wakes there's voices, but it's still dark. The blanket is still around him, but when sitting up he realizes he's actually laying on his bed. There's laughter outside, one of the two he doesn't recognize. He stands up and opens the door, finding two men with Bokuto on the living room. One is drilling something on the wall, somehow he didn't hear that noise. That man looks big, probably broader than Bokuto. His hair is long and pulled back by a ponytail, leaving his concentrated face with scruff to be seen. The other man is small, his hair spiked up and a little piece at the front is bleached blond. Him and Bokuto talk, when the small man notices Akaashi by his door and smiles.

"Hey! Your boyfriend woke up!"

Akaashi is about to say something when Bokuto turns to him smiling, stealing his breath away. God, he'll probably never get used to that. Bokuto walks to him after excusing himself with the small man, who goes to talk with the huge man on the other side of the room. He looks like the type to constantly crave attention.

"Hey Akaash', they came to install the TV while you were asleep, but I didn't want to wake you since you were sleeping so peacefully, so I- um, I carried you to your room." His voice is low, leaving the conversation in between them, which Akaashi appreciates.

"Thank you Bokuto-san." He smiles at him, which makes Bokuto's smile to widen.

"No problem!"

Akaashi walks towards the other men, Bokuto walking inside of his room. Akaashi finds it a little weird until he notices that the blanket that was covering the balcony doors is discarded on the floor, it probably fell. Bokuto must have felt uncomfortable in his skin as he stayed here with the afternoon light filtering into the apartment through the thin curtain. _And yet he didn't wake me._

"Hi, sorry I wasn't here when you arrived. I hope everything is going alright."

The bigger man turns to him with a little jump as he gets startled at Akaashi's arrival. "Oh! No, no, everything has gone pretty well, your boyfriend helped me a lot to find everything on the storage room."

Nobody gets hurt if he doesn't correct him, right?

"Well, I'm glad everything has gone according to plan." At a better look at the big man, he recognizes him. "Hey, your father came here earlier, right?"

The man startles again. "Oh, yeah. I'm Azumane Asahi." He extends his free hand for a handshake, which he gives him.

"Akaashi Keiji."

The small man beside Asahi suddenly jumps, startling Akaashi but strangely not the other. "I'm Azumane Yuu! But call me Noya."

Oh so that's the husband.

"Pleasure meeting you both." He then turns when Bokuto comes out of his room, he has one of his hoodies on, it somehow fits him even if his figure is significantly broader than Akaashi's. Bokuto stands next to him and send him a smile as Noya immediately picks up on the conversation from earlier.

"So Bokuto! You'll be playing on the graveyard tournament next month, right?"

Bokuto pumps a fist into the air. "Well of course! As the ace and vice captain of my team I have to be there!"

"Excuse me, but the what tournament now?"

Noya laughs at his intervention. "Graveyard tournament! It's called like that because all the games are at weird hours of the night and early morning. Last year Bokuto's team won finals!"

"Oh, you did?" Akaashi quirks an eyebrow at that.

"Well, of course! We have won that tournament for about three consecutive years! The ultimate champions!" He flexes his arms in excitement, Akaashi's mouth almost drops, dignity keeping his jaw firm.

"Well, good luck this year since your setter quit!"

Bokuto's excitement goes down a little at Noya's comment but then he stands straight on a defensive manner. "Hey, don't blame Kenma! He got promoted so he is not as available as before!"

Asahi looks at him at that. "He got the promotion?"

Bokuto almost jumps out of his socks. "Yes! He got it last month!"

Asahi smiles for the first time. "Say my congratulations to him! He had wanted to get that for so long."

Bokuto groans. "Oh, you tell me! Kenma worked himself over for so much time, so he deserves it." He turns to Noya again. "We will find a setter for it and win! You'll see!"

"I'm a setter."

Bokuto turns to him. "You're a what."

Akaashi blushes at the attention from both energetic men, but he keeps his attention in Bokuto. "My friends made me join the club back in high school, I played all three years as my team's setter."

Bokuto looks starstruck at the moment, looking at Akaashi with huge eyes and his mouth hanging open. _Is he about to cry?_ Noya is the one who speaks first. "Now you've got a setter!"

Bokuto shakes his head and smiles big. "Hell yeah!" He then looks at Akaashi again. "You'll play with us, right Akaashi?"

"How could I say no." Oh that was supposed to stay in his head.

Bokuto smiles, then Asahi clears his throat and everyone looks at him. His shoulders tense a little at the attention, but he looks at Bokuto when talking. "Would you help me hang the TV on the rack?"

Bokuto nods and goes to help him hang it on the space next to the window. Akaashi notices how when Bokuto gets near it he squints, but he keeps his hold on the TV. After Asahi looks at some things behind it, he let's go and signals for Bokuto to put it down. He does, and then excuses himself to the kitchen. Akaashi notices he rubs his face on his way there, worrying him a little.

"And we're done." Akaashi turns to Asahi as he gathers his stuff. "If there are any problems with the TV, just call my dad and one of us will come and help you with it."

Akaashi leads both of them towards the door, Noya skipping past the kitchen as he says a goodbye to Bokuto, the other man saying it back with a little bit of strain on his voice. Asahi and Noya finally go out, the smaller one taking his husband's hand as they walk towards the stairs.

The moment Akaashi closes the door, he goes to where Bokuto is washing his face with cold water. His breath is a little heavy as he lets the water drip from his face, and Akaashi decides to walk towards him slowly. He puts a hand on his shoulder, which makes Bokuto turn off the tap and pat dry his face. He winces when the towel makes contact with his left cheek, so Akaashi takes it and starts drying his face gently.

"Does it still hurt?"

Bokuto shakes his head. "Not as much. I guess I got too close to the window." He tries to laugh but winces when it makes his skin strain. Akaashi cups his other cheek with his hand to keep him still, trying to be as careful as he can since Bokuto's skin actually became red and irritated. The taller of the two stares directly into his eyes, his posture relaxing a little as the room becomes more consumed by darkness with the sun going down behind the buildings slowly. When his face is fully dry Akaashi gives him a soft smile, letting the towel down but his other hand stays on Bokuto's cheek. He leans into his hand and closes his eyes for a second.

"Thank you, Akaashi." The man only smiles back, his thumb slowly and carefully caressing Bokuto's cheek. When Bokuto opens his eyes, the soft glow from his yellow irises is back. Keiji smiles more at that.

"Can you control that?"

Bokuto's head turns to the side in confusion, making him look more like an owl.

"Can you control when your eyes shine like that?"

Bokuto looks at his nose, as if trying to see the glow that he emits. This makes Akaashi laugh and rub his cheek, letting the hand drop after.

"Not really. People have told me they glow in the dark, I guess that's from the owl genes."

Is he not aware that they shine when he is happy as well?

"It's really adorable." Akaashi can't help himself when he says it. Bokuto stammers on what he was about to say and looks down with a little laugh.

"You think so?"

Akaashi nods and hums his answer. He then feels something on his hand, and he looks down at where Bokuto is looking as well. The thicker and more callused hand is now enveloped around his, Akaashi's slender fingers slowly intertwine with Bokuto's. Said man squeezes his hand, making Akaashi look up and meet the captivating light.

"Noya said the same thing as Tendou."

Akaashi is confused by what he means exactly. "What are you talking about?"

Bokuto looks towards the side, his other hand coming up to rub at his neck. "They both called us boyfriends."

Akaashi literally _combusts_. "Oh, I guess you're right."

_It's better that you do something about it fast, because someday you will wish that you had made a move earlier and not wasted so much time._ Asahi's father's words from that morning make him want to say something, but the knot in his gut is making it be hard to even breathe.

Bokuto clears his throat. "Does it bother you?" Akaashi shakes his head. "You sure?" He nods. Bokuto takes a deep breath, and then his eyes turn to look at Akaashi in the eye, shy determination the only thing reflected on them. "Would you like to?"

Akaashi's soul has left his body. If somebody sees it, please give it back.

"Oh"

_Oh? OH?! Did you really just said 'OH'._

"I don't mean be my boyfriend right away! Even though I would really like that. But what I mean is, um, would you like to date? Like, can I date you officially?"

Akaashi takes a hand to cover his mouth as a little laugh escapes his lips. "What have we been doing all this time then?"

Bokuto's mouth opens and closes, he frowns. "Well, I guess if you look at it that way..." Akaashi laughs and squeezes Bokuto's hand, making the man look at him again.

"Yes, Bokuto-san, I would love to date you _officially_."

Bokuto laughs at that and gently pulls Akaashi in for a hug. They embrace each other tight as a non existent weight is pulled from both their shoulders. Akaashi can perfectly lean his head on Bokuto's shoulder without straining his neck, while Bokuto leans his head on Akaashi's, both fitting together like puzzle pieces. They let go, Bokuto taking Akaashi's hand again and leading him towards the living room.

"Come on, we can now connect my laptop to the TV and keep on watching the Harry Potter movies!"

After fixing the blanket over the window, they start where they left off, Akaashi in Bokuto's arms all over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can yall see what i did there with the HSM song hehehe  
if you dont know the song from the title just get out (jk love u all)
> 
> Make sure to check out Suguru's [Tumblr blog](https://suguru.tumblr.com/), and if you want to chat here's [mine!](https://is-a-bell-tmblr.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Here's the link to the fic's [playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4YAnv5HBcFCg6Uf5CSeHUM)


	7. Gasoline

It's Friday when Akaashi manages to talk with Fumiko about what she mentioned when talking on the telephone last time.

Akaashi has come to her apartment over the book shop only once before, when Fumiko-san got sick and she asked him to buy some medicine from the other side of town. Now he is sitting on her living room with a cup of jasmine tea in front of him while she's feeding her cockatoo, the little fluffy animal whistling a cheerful melody at the sight of food.

When she comes back and sits down in front of him, she has a folder on her hand. There's an insignia on the front that he doesn't recognize, but the words underneath catch his eye.

_Sukoshi preschool._

"I guess you can tell what I'm going to say." He looks at her face and blushes a little, about to apologize when Fumiko laughs softly. "Don't worry about it. I just wanted to give you this." He opens the folder and starts scanning through the papers slowly. "It's an application to be Sukoshi's English teacher. They don't have a class for the language particularly, but they have been getting many immigrant children lately. So it's more being a teacher who stays in a specific class to help children who have English as their first or most known language. They are looking for a very specific number, so if you want to apply for the job, then you should do it quickly." She takes a sip of her own tea, waiting for Akaashi to reply.

He is currently reading through the titles needed, and there are apparently none apart for studying English either on school or university. "Is there no need to have studied any type of education?"

"Not really, because you're not really going to be there to teach, but more to help."

He nods and keeps on reading, the position requires skills like patience, fluidity in both Japanese and English, good interaction skills with both parents and kids, and simple things like that. When he doesn't speak further, and instead drinks from his cup, Fumiko seems to get a little restless.

"I know it's not exactly the work that you have wanted all this time, but it's something to begin with."

He shakes his head. "Don't worry about that, this is actually a very good way to start that I never took in consideration." He closes the folder and looks back at her, bowing his head. "Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity."

"Oh don't worry about it sweetheart. But do tell me if you get accepted so that we can discuss about your work here at the book shop. Is totally alright if you want to quit, as well."

Akaashi stays silent at that. He cannot just let the book shop go. This is the place where he met many people that are now what he considers friends, this is the place where he took shelter after graduating college and not knowing what to do, and this is also one of the few places that felt welcoming and as a home. He does not want to throw this away.

"I think that if I get the job, then I could continue working here on weekends since it's the busiest time of the week at times. And here it says that i don't have to go to meetings and stuff like that, so that makes it easier to sometimes take evening or night shifts if you ever need help around here." He is about to continue when he looks up at her face, she has a smile that he has only ever seen on her mother's face. So sweet and welcoming, with a little bit of love and pride.

"Whatever you want is alright with me, sweetie." She claps her hands and leans her elbows on her skinny knees, leaning towards him with a more calming aura. "So now that we have that off the table, tell me about that guy who has you so damn happy all the time."

Akaashi feels a blush on his cheeks, but even if he tried he couldn't deny it at this point. With time he has come to realize that its impossible to lie to her. "Well, he is my neighbor." She lifts an eyebrow, which makes him groan. "I met him by the door when I moved in, not because the filthy reason everybody always assumes."

"Well, if you don't want people to assume those things then you shouldn't start with 'he is my neighbor'." She pulls her graying hair on a messy bun on top of her hair. "I have heard from Satori that you had him over not so long ago?"

"Yeah, we watched some movies and stuff. Nothing big."

She smiles at him. "Why don't you tell me about him instead of just answering my questions, hm?"

Akaashi laughs softly. "Okay, okay. Well, his name is Bokuto and he is- he's so amazing. He is very funny and loves sports, mainly volleyball since that's the one he has been playing for the longest I believe. He has a... very soft spot for owls, so much that sometimes he just texts me at randoms times of the day with what he calls 'the owl fact of the day', which I find kind of not so useful but he gets so excited that I let him be. He adores American movies with his soul, but doesn't like reading books if the movie is based on one because it confuses him? On this we have discussed a little, and I think I will convince him to read Harry Potter if we ever get to finish our marathon." He laughs and looks at the cup on his hands, fiddling with the chipped cup handle. "He has a very nice smile that just makes me feel warm when I look at it. He has a little dimple on his left cheek that instead of appearing when he smiles, it appears when he pouts. Oh, and his hair is like really weird, but I love it so much, he wouldn't be himself if he didn't style it the way he does."

The cockatoo sings a melody and he turns to look at it, taking in the grays, whites and yellow that cover its plumage. _You stole his colors._ He laughs to himself at the though. "I think there's just one thing better than his smile, his eyes. They are such a unique golden color, they are not even amber, they are straight up yellow golden. When he is happy, his eyes seem to shine with a light that consumes me, calming my thoughts and making me feel all warm." He looks back at his hands, which have started fiddling with the rim of the cup now. "I think he has noticed my anxiety already, and he knows about my hand fiddling. He never mentions any of it, but I know it bothers him when I play with my hands this way. Most of the people who know about it don't like it. The other day we were having dinner at a restaurant near the apartment building, and I subconsciously started tugging at my fingers I guess, and he took hold of one of my hands and he started to gently play with it instead." A soft smile has taken residence on his lips, an expression few people have seen.

"He must be very observant then, because you're not very open about this stuff." Fumiko-san says as she looks at him, but his eyes are trained down on the cup.

"Oh, he is very observant and caring. He can spot when I'm feeling down even when we are texting, and he never suddenly asks what's wrong with me. Instead, he just tries to cheer me up and then gets the information out of me in a subtle way through conversation. Are things like these that make me like him so much, I guess." Akaashi notices his smile and covers it with one hand as he exhales.

When he turns to look up at the woman, her smile is soft and tender. "You have always been poetic when talking about things that you appreciate, don't be ashamed." She lets her cup down on the table."I can tell that he makes you really happy."

He nods and lets his hand go to his hair. "The happiest I have been in a long time, actually."

She stands up and takes the empty tea cups to the kitchenette at the side. "Have you told your mom already?"

He stands and walks towards the cockatoo, the bird jumping on his finger and letting him pet its head. "Not yet."

She hums in disapproval. "And why is that, my boy? Don't you want her to know how happy you have become?"

"Well, yeah. But I have never felt so serious about someone, so I guess that adds a little pressure to giving her the news even if Bokuto and I have just started to date." He puts one finger in front of the other, the cockatoo jumping on them as he moves them around. Suddenly the bird slips and stays upside down,making Akaashi snort a laugh.

"You could wait until it's more serious for him can meet her. But I think it's better you tell her now. She worries about you, you know."

Akaashi lets the cockatoo stand on his shoulder, the bird playing with his small curls. "Yeah, I know." The bird somehow jumps on top of his head and lets itself sit there. He turns to Fumiko and she starts laughing at him. "Oh please let me take a picture of that with your phone."

He shrugs and carefully gives the phone to her. She takes a picture of them and then laughs again trying to get the bird down. The little creature refuses to get down, and clings to his hair. Akaashi has to put his hand on his head for the cockatoo to jump on it and finally go back to his little playground.

"You've had this little guy for over half a year now and he still doesn't have a name."

She sighs. "Yeah, every time I try to call him by one he doesn't like it."

Akaashi looks at the colors again, his mind going to Bokuto again. He tries to look the bird in the eye, which should be considered ridiculous since it's an animal. "Kou"

The small ball of feathers turns to look at him and whistles merrily. Fumiko smiles and repeats the name, to which the bird flies to her shoulder. "I guess I had to make you bond even more with him to get him to answer to a name, huh."

"We miss him downstairs."

Fumiko laughs. "After how much you've been running around with Oikawa and Satori, I don't believe the shop is the safest place."

Akaashi pouts as he takes his folder, little Kou whistle-laughing at him. Akaashi sticks his tongue out as he walks towards the door.

"Thank you for everything again, Fumiko-san." She shrugs and whistles three notes, to which Kou answers with the same.

"I already said that it's no bother. You can go home for the evening if you want, today I have Kageyama helping Hinata over at the coffee stand since he stuck the steamer last time."

Akaashi waves at her as he opens the door. "Thank you. See you later Fumiko-san. Kou." He whistles the note from before, and the cockatoo answers back but with a different one this time.

As he walks outside towards the train station, feeling a little lazier today to walk so much, he texts Bokuto the picture of the bird with the text 'meet Kou' attached. He immediately receives a lot of heart emojis and questions about the bird. As he hops on the train, holding the folder close, he answers to his multiplying questions. Suddenly Akaashi feels as if someone is looking at him, a heavy feeling bringing him down. He turns his head up, his eyes somehow knowing the source of the feeling. The man looks familiar, a sly lazy smile and snake like eyes looking at him from under a baseball cap. Akaashi somehow cannot take his eyes away from the mysterious man, a weird kind of connection calling him to go to where the man is sitting. He takes a step, then another, but then the train stops and shakes him, making him look away.

When he looks on the previous direction again, the man is gone. The doors open and he gets down, not feeling like taking the train anymore. While walking down the street, he still has a little bit of the remaining feeling of that calling towards the mysterious man. He tries to take his mind out of that, when he reaches the door of the building without realizing.

He just opened the door when a black cat jumps his way, making him stumble backwards into the floor. The cat stands on his chest, swaying its tail from one side of his torso to the other. Suddenly it meows and gets down, walking back inside. He rubs at his head while trying to sit up and recover from the fall when a voice calls his name. Akaashi looks up to find Kenma looking worriedly at him.

"Are you alright?" Kenma helps him up, and suddenly Kuroo appears from inside and takes his wrist, forcefully taking him inside and closing the door behind them. He presses him to the door as Kenma tries to pry him off by his shoulders. "It's Akaashi, Tetsurou, let him go."

Akaashi then notices how Kuroo's eyes are cat like, his normally light brown eyes look more yellow and the pupil is a straight slit, just like a feline. Suddenly he lets go, his eyes returning to normal. He shakes his head and looks at Akaashi apologetically. "Sorry, couldn't transform back fast enough."

"Don't, em, don't worry about it." Akaashi probably has an idea why Kuroo said 'transform'. "Were you the cat?"

Kuroo nods. "It's a transforming spell that helps me find stuff easier. You know, better senses and stuff."

"Yeah sure." He fixes his shirt and looks back at both men. "And what exactly are you looking for?"

"A hairless cat." Kenma says, he then turns back and goes up the stairs. "I'll check our apartment again. Please finally explain the situation to him, Tetsurou." 

The man passes his fingers through his fringe, messing it up even more. "It's better if I tell you this upstairs, come on."

They go to Akaashi's apartment and sit on the living room. Kuroo looks around before sitting down. "Nice TV, new?"

"Yes it is. Could you explain to me what situation was Kenma talking about?"

Kuroo sighs and leans back. "Basically you have an stalker. He has caused us, mainly Bokuto, problems before. We managed to catch him and transform him into a hairless cat about two months ago, which was extremely hilarious believe me." He then looks at Akaashi in the eye, his voice more serious. "But the bastard somehow converted back and escaped last night. Somehow, you have his smell."

"Is that why you jumped on me that way downstairs?" Kuroo nods. "Okay. Now could you please explain why you believe I've got this man's scent on me if I don't even know him?"

"Well, magic has scents. In this guy's case, his black magic stinks, and every time he uses it, the things affected get imprinted with the smell for a while." He rubs his eyes and groans in frustration. "He must have found you and tried to use some type of magic or some shit on you."

"Is this man one with serpent-like eyes and a long face?"

Kuroo immediately looks at him. "Holy shit, yes. He must have found you."

Akaashi nods. "I saw him on the train. I could barely see his face, but I remember the eyes from one night I went with Bokuto-san to a restaurant."

Kuroo stays silent as he thinks, he mumbles some stuff that Keiji can't hear, and then he speaks up. "That was the night he first escaped. But we caught him again and I was sure I had put a permanent spell on him."

"You're a witch, right?" Kuroo nods while mumbling stuff and drawing something on his hand. "Is this guy one as well?"

"Not exactly. He uses black magic, but because he is a siren-serpent shapeshifter. When you found him, did you feel like if something was calling you towards him?" Akaashi nods. "Shit. Well, that was his siren magic. He can lure people in when talking to them."

"But I have never talked to him."

Kuroo groans. "That's the thing, he can lure people in with his serpent hypnosis through hissing like sounds. So you don't particularly have to talk back to him, but listen to his voice. In this case, his hissing that is so hard to hear, but either way enters your brain and manipulates you."

Akaashi crosses his legs and plays with his fingers on top of them, the fact of having a serpent like stalker that can at any moment call him and literally kidnap him making him anxious. How would any sane person not get chills when thinking about that. "How do you know so much about him?"

Kuroo suddenly stills and looks at Akaashi with an expression that could only be described as anger. "He is a very messed up guy who has made Bo's life impossible since last century. I have made it my fucking goal to finally bring him down."

Akaashi frowns at that. What has this guy made to Bokuto? Do they personally know each other? Does it have to do with how he turned into a vampire? He keeps on silently asking himself stuff when suddenly Kuroo stands up, going to walk out of the apartment.

"I'll go bring you some stuff to get his smell off of you, and some protection spells to try and keep him away from you." He opens the door as Akaashi rapidly tries to keep up with him. "Oh and please," Kuroo turns to him and his eyes look as turning gears as his brain keeps on figuring out stuff Keiji doesn't understand. "Please don't let Bokuto near you until I come back. He went out for a fly and will be back soon. If he comes around before I do with the stuff, do not get close to him."

"Okay. But can I ask why?"

Kuroo looks outside, as if Bokuto could literally appear any second from the staircase. His eyes look wilder as time passes, which makes Akaashi worry about his friend's well being. "He can identify Daishou's smell with a single sniff. And when he does let's say things do not get any prettier. Even more now that he is on the leash and after you." He then mumbles something like 'Bokuto will kill me' then a 'fuck it'. "Bokuto is very territorial and possessive in a way. It's not anything heavy or bad, it's just part of his owl nature. But he gets really possessive and aggressive towards other when the ones close to him are in any type of danger, may it be small or a literal tsunami."

"What do you mean by that, exactly?" Akaashi hugs himself as in a way to prepare for the information that just keeps coming in waves.

"Well, he cares about you. A lot." His voice becomes a little softer as he continues. "And it was so hard for him to not come bursting into your apartment when we found Daishou trying to break in and managed to catch him. He has been a little on edge since then, even when we had the guy as a cat on a fucking magical protected cage."

Akaashi takes a deep breath and nods at Kuroo. "I will make sure he doesn't get near me then. But please hurry to bring me the things to clean myself and all that you mentioned." Akaashi looks to the side, where the window on the hallway outside is now covered in the black paint from his neighbors' windows. "If he does come first, I don't think I will be able to keep him out of my apartment for long."

Kuroo smiles reassuringly. "I just have to make three or two fresh protection and purifying spells. Oh, and try to not touch anything so that the smell doesn't spread around and makes the purifying of your apartment much easier."

Akaashi nods as Kuroo walks next door, closing it behind him. He immediately hears Kenma's voice, which makes him realize how thin the walls actually are.

_Would Kuroo have a spell for that?_ He is tired of hearing Daichi and Sugawara have sex every time Suga comes back from a long day at his work at daycare. Which has been way too many times, considering how long he has lived here.

Akaashi walks back inside to wait for Kuroo, having no other option but to stand by the door. The other door opposite the one at the entrance is a room still filled with boxes that have all of his books from college. Way too many, if you ask his mother, but not enough, if you ask him. Suddenly his phone is ringing, and when taking it out he finds that his brother is calling him.

Answering the phone takes more effort than what he would like. "Hi Hiro."

"Hey Keiji, I have news."

Akaashi lifts an eyebrow. "Please don't tell me you got Denise pregnant."

"Okay, first of all, I didn't. Second of all, are you okay? You sound kind of down." While Akaashi could easily read a person's physique, his brother could read someone's feelings through little changes in one's personality.

Akaashi sighs, not really a hundred percent ready to tell his brother he is dating an owl vampire who has a siren enemy that is stalking Keiji, and he is currently waiting for his witch friend to bring him protections spells. Yeah, that would be too much. Instead he says, "I'm just a little tired I guess. I just came back from the shop and from talking with a friend."

"Aw, you've got friends already!"

"I will smack you through the phone." His brother laughs at the fake coldness of his voice, making Akaashi smile a little.

"So, as I was saying! I have news. But I want to tell you in person, so we will have to meet somewhere. BEFORE you interrupt," they both laugh "we will meet on your apartment, because I want to see it."

"Okay, when would you like to meet?"

"Wow, you agreed faster than I thought." He sounds genuinely stunned, but then he sounds excited all over again. "Can we meet tomorrow?"

Akaashi tries to remember if he has anything to do. "I am busy at 6, but we can meet for lunch."

"Sweet! I'll bring some _nanohana no karashiae_ for you, since I know how much you love it. But make sure to have some of your fruit stuffed _dorayaki_ for me."

Akaashi snorts. "Do you really want to eat pancakes for dessert?"

"I admit they are very pancake like, but I like how sponge-like you make them so."

Akaashi shrugs. "Fair enough." He then hears a knock on the door, when opening it he finds Kuroo standing with a box full of stuff in front of him. "I have to hang up. See you tomorrow."

"Oh, come on Keiji, let's talk some more! Have you found any sexy guys there in the city?"

Blood rushes to his cheeks as he glares at his brother through the phone. "I said I have to hang up, we will talk about this later."

"Oh so there is someone! Who is he? Is he hot?"

"Bye Hiro!" His brother laughs as he hangs up the phone. Kuroo glances at him while taking stuff out of his box on the dining table.

"Who were you talking to?"

"My brother." He picks up a flask with some dark blue liquid inside, he moves it around and sees bubbles forming inside. With just that as a warning he puts it back on the table. "How many things did you bring?"

"Just enough." He takes a bag out and gives it to Akaashi. "This is the thing to purify your clothes. Just put them inside and tie a knot, get rid of all the air though. Then just let it sit while you shower and when you come out then take the clothes out the bag." He gives him a bottle with a platinum liquid that has light purple bubbles floating around. "When you shower, use this as a shampoo and soap. It's completely natural so don't worry about it damaging your hair or anything."

Akaashi looks down at the things on his hands and then back at Kuroo, who has started to organize things around. "This is it?" the man nods. "Okay. Just knock on the door if you need anything."

Kuroo nods again and Akaashi walks to the bathroom when the other talks again. "Oh, by the way. If you're in there and feel nauseous, it's because I'm doing the purifying spell out here and the energy has started to spread. Just wait for the sensation to go out. But if you really need to puke, I guess you have the facilities to do so in there." He laughs as Akaashi gags at that, making Kuroo chuckle more.

Akaashi does what Kuroo told him and puts his clothes on the bag, stepping into the shower with the bottle in hand. When opening it, it smells like rosemary and a bit like citronella, making it a weird combination but not an unbearable one. He pours some on his wet hair and scratches his scalp with his fingers full of it. He then proceeds to do the same with his body, the liquid actually making bubbles that have a pinkish color. When cleaning his arms he becomes dizzy, the smell becomes more strong to his nostrils and he has to grasp the wall to not fall.

"Akaashee!" Kuroo's voice from outside startles him. "You okay bud? I just finished the purifying spell out here."

Akaashi hums loudly and he hears as Kuroo walks away. He finishes the shower and goes out in a towel, taking the bag with him. He sees Kuroo sitting on the small dinning room area and tosses the bag his way.

"Could you take it out while I go dress?" Kuroo nods and starts opening the bag slowly as Akaashi goes to his room, putting on some sweats and a shirt, pulling on a hoodie laying on his bed.

He goes out and Kuroo looks up from where he is cleaning some stuff from a black shiny bowl, suddenly he makes a double take and smirks. "Is that Bokuto's?"

Keiji looks down confused, and apparently he has Bokuto's weird graffiti hoodie on. "Oh I guess it is." He feels blood go to his face as he sits down in front of Kuroo, the other man just snickers and moves some things around for him to see.

"I brought some things you can keep around to protect your scent and location. This on over here is an amethyst," he picks up a string with a purple little rock. "this one calms anxiety and defines boundaries, so I thought it would help you cause, you know, you looked so panicked earlier." He extends the string and it looks like its thin brown leather, which is tied to both sides of the crystal through holes. "Its not so big, but I refined it and did a little spell to maintain its power. You can carry it with you however you want, just don't lose it." He gives it to Akaashi an takes another crystal out, this one bigger and pitch black. "This one right here is an obsidian, you can either carry it with you or leave it here, I put a little spell on it that took me SO MUCH to master, but I managed to make the energy released from this one to impregnate on living things."

Akaashi looks at the medium sized crystal with intent, somehow feeling a comforting vibe from it. "What does this one do?"

Kuroo passes it for Akaashi to take a closer look. "It cleans the energy continuously to keep negative energy away, in this case, the motherfucker." Keiji laughs, which makes Kuroo look at him and smile. He turns to the box again and brings a cloth out, it has something inside that is noticeable bigger that the previous rocks. Kuroo opens the cloth and inside is a transparent crystal, with a dark brown rock in the center.

"This one right here I made for Bokuto two years ago, but this morning he told me to give it to you." He passes the rock by pulling it by the cloth underneath, being extremely careful not to touch it. Akaashi does the same, avoiding the pointy ends of the captivating object. "Its a mix of two powerful crystals for purification and protection. I managed to combine them and their energy so that it's way more powerful than if they were separated."

Akaashi looks at Kuroo with a surprised face that makes the man blush a little, "That's amazing, Kuroo-san." He goes back to inspecting the mix of crystals in front of him, trying to look more closely to the one inside.

"Sometimes I can really see why Bokuto fell for you man. Don't tell him or Kenma that, though." Akaashi looks up at him and finds Kuroo with a smile that then turns amused when he sees the expression on the other's face, which makes him bark out a laugh. Akaashi kicks him from under the table, which makes the man laugh more. Akaashi joins him softly, finding his hyena laugh hilarious.

"Okay, okay." Both take deep breaths and quiet down, the air around them now more chilled since Kuroo first came inside. "What's the meaning behind this one?" Akaashi asks.

Kuroo lays his head on the table, looking at the big crystal in front of them. "The transparent one is an optical clear calcite, which helps to energetically cleanse and purify all of your charkas and energy field. While the one in the center is a protection one. Its a smokey quartz and it makes you invisible, you could say. It removes stress and negative energy and beings. When I combined them through a spell, I did it so that the cleaning energy from the optical calcite and the protection from the smokey quarts create a barrier of pure energy to protect the owner from undesired negative energy and black magic."

Akaashi looks back at him. "Why can't we touch it?"

Kuroo lifts his head up and starts putting the rest of things inside his box. "I prefer not to so that it's power and energy remains undisturbed."

Because that _obviously_ makes sense.

Kuroo finishes packing his stuff and stands up, Akaashi standing up with him. They walk to the entrance, since Kuroo's business is apparently over. They part without words, Kuroo waving from over his shoulder as he enters his own apartment.

Keiji walks back to the table where his new three apparently magic crystals are. He looks around, trying to find a place for each. The obsidian he leaves on his bedside table, since he spends most of his time home there. The big transparent one he doesn't know where to leave it, letting it rest on the dining table for now. The amethyst is small, so he ties the string around his wrist and lets it rest there as a bracelet.

_What have I gotten myself into._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gasoline by Halsey!! the most fitting song i have put in here i believe like come on just listen to the lyrics
> 
> Since I took a lot to post and there is no gay action here, I will post the next chapter in like ten mins!
> 
> Make sure to check out Suguru's [Tumblr blog](https://suguru.tumblr.com/), and if you want to chat here's [mine!](https://is-a-bell-tmblr.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Here's the link to the fic's [playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4YAnv5HBcFCg6Uf5CSeHUM)


	8. Unchained Melody

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i KNOW i said yesterday i would upload this with the previous chapter.... sorry

Next day at about 1:40 Akaashi's brother is knocking on his door.

"You're late."

Hiro groans. "I _know_! But you live so far from home AND I couldn't find where to park my car."

They enter the apartment as Keiji takes a tupperware from his brother's broad hand. They look almost entirely different, Keiji being tall and thin, while Hiro is more chubby and just a little smaller in height even if he is five years older. The only thing they share is their dark curly hair, but Hiro wears it slicked back most of the time. "The entrance to the parking lot is right around the corner. I texted you that like an hour ago."

"Well, I don't check my phone while I drive." Keiji gives him a look. "It's true! At least for texting."

The younger one of the brothers walks to the kitchen, opening the tupperware and getting its contents out on a pan to heat them up. Hiro, meanwhile, is walking through the apartment. With a glance back he finds his older brother looking around the living room, picking up some papers on the table.

"You applying for a job or something?" He waves the papers around for Keiji to see, when he notices its the folder Fumiko gave him earlier he nods. His brother starts to look through them, not staying on one side for too long. "A supplementary English teacher, huh?"

"I'm applying to be the translator teacher for immigrant kids in kindergarten."

He feels his brother turn to him at that, he doesn't bother tuning around, instead stirring his favorite food on the pan for it to not burn. "You're applying to work with kids now? I thought you preferred teenagers."

Keiji turns the stove off and takes the plates he had on the bar stool, putting the food there with the onigiri he prepared when bored after making the dorayaki. He then takes the plates to the living room. Hiro notices him and walks to where his little brother is placing the food down. They sit and start eating right after giving thanks, both craving their mother's recipe.

They sit in silence, until Hiro asks Keiji about the rock in the center through a mouthful of rapeseed. "What's this?"

Akaashi shrugs, keeping an eye on his brother in case he tries to touch the crystal. "Just a centerpiece I found at an antiques shop."

"It's pretty. Even though I didn't think of you to have those type of things as decoration." Keiji arcs an eyebrow. "Well, you have always being a minimalist, so it surprises me the amount of things you have laying around." He gestures to the sweatshirt on the chair beside him, Bokuto's sweatshirt he was wearing yesterday.

Keiji then remembers when his brother asked him if he has met any people the day before, especially hot guys. That makes him glance at the clothing again and feels a little blush rise to his neck, so he drinks water while _praying_ that his brother doesn't notice.

But of course he does.

"Oh!" He looks at the sweatshirt again and holds it up, looking at the graffiti-like design on the front. "So that's why it looks so big. It's also not much your style."

"I borrowed it from a friend." Hiro arcs an eyebrow at the statement. "Okay, he may not just be a... friend."

The oldest Akaashi looks at him in bewilderment as he puts the hoodie down and stares at his brother. "You're not joking?" He shakes his head and keeps on eating. "Wait, really?! You're dating someone?" Keiji nods and starts eating his onigiri. His brother frowns, looking more like a kid than mad. "Well don't just move your head! Tell me about him! It's a him, right."

He can't help the chuckle escaping him. "Yes, it's a him." He notices both of them have finished their food already so he picks the plates up, going to the kitchen to drop them off and grab the dessert. When he is back, his brother looks expecting. He sighs. "Well, I met him when I moved in, he lives next door with two of his friends. We have gone out a couple of times, he has come over as well since he, um, he's busy during the day, so most of the time we hang out in the late evening and night."

"Oh, so you're banging already."

He is definitely more purple than red now from the amount of blood warming his cheeks up.

"We are- we're NOT doing that!" He covers his face with a groan. "Oh God."

His brother's laugh is something he had missed a lot. It's loud, not as loud as Bokuto's or weird like Kuroo's, more like if he is literally saying 'ha ha ha', which has always made him laugh along. They both chuckle as they start eating the dorayaki, his brother, as always, eating the filler first and then the rest.

"So you're not banging yet?"

He sighs loud, more fake than anything. "No." He decides to ignore the 'yet' on the question. "We just hang out and sometimes go out when neither of us is tired from work."

"What's his work? What even is his name in the first place."

Keiji takes another dorayaki from the plate in the center. "His name is Bokuto, and now that you mention it, I'm not sure what he works on." _Or if he even works._ "I'll ask him later, I guess."

Hiro smiles at that. "Oh, so that's why you are not 'available after 6'." He mocks his younger brother's voice, so Akaashi throws a piece of fruit that ends up sticking to his cheek. He bursts out laughing at that, clutching his stomach with one hand and the edge of the table with the other, as if he is going to fall. He chokes a little on his saliva, which makes him start coughing. That cracks his brother up, and they end up laughing just like Keiji had with Kuroo the day before.

Keiji takes a deep breath to calm down, and when he looks back up he finds his brother smiling softly at him. His brown eyes are rounder than his, more like his father's. Keiji cleans his eyes of the tears that threatened to fall seconds before and stares back. "What?"

His brother chuckles, but it sounds a little sadder. "I haven't heard you laugh that much since, gosh, since dad passed away." They stay silent for a while, the air not heavy or sad, more like a weird type of comfortable and a feeling of home. "Sorry for getting the mood down, I just- you look so much happier now. I guess mom was right about letting you move into the city after all."

The youngest looks down, feeling vulnerable when remembering his father and how much his death affected him. _Now you've got Bokuto to make you happy, though._ Just like last week, his father's voice is clear in his head, making him smile. They finish their dessert in comfortable silence from then on, until Keiji remembers why they met in the first place.

"You haven't told me the news you were so excited about."

His brother immediately perks up. "You know how next weekend we have the family gathering with grandma and everyone else?" Keiji nods, not getting the point. "Well, I will take Denise with me."

He frowns. "But grandma didn't want her to be there last time, you know she is very strict that only family members attend those gatherings."

"Well, I guess she can make an exception like when I took Denise as my girlfriend to meet the fam." He then takes something out of his pocket and slides it over the table. A black velvet box lays in front of Keiji, and he looks up at his brother with his eyes as big as a fish.

"No way."

He smiles. "Yes way, kiddo."

Keiji takes the box carefully and looks at it while opening slowly. Inside there's a ring with a golden band, a diamond in the center. Next to the diamond on both sides there's small blue gems. "It looks like mom's."

Hiro exhales. "Yeah, she has always cherished her ring so much, I don't know why I felt like I needed to make hers similar." His smile looks extremely fond as he takes the ring back, looking at it as if it's the eight wonder of the world. "This means you cannot skip like last time."

"Just tell me when you'll do it so I can arrive to congratulate her and then leave." He stands to take everything from the table to the kitchen, his brother laughing while helping him.

They wash the dishes while catching up on some stuff, it is almost 4 so Hiro decides he has to leave. "I have to buy some groceries for mom. Aunt Simone sent her a french recipe that apparently they used to eat at grandpa's house when they hung out or something."

"If it turns out good then please send it to me, I would love to try it as well."

"Sure!" When they open the door, Kenma is standing there, bickering with Bokuto as they carry a computer's huge CPU. "Oh! Do you need some help?"

Both men stop their discussion about some videogame and turn to the other two. Kenma looks between them, probably seeing some resemblance, telling by his expression.

"Oh! Is this your brother?" Bokuto asks, to which Keiji nods. "Hi! I'm Bokuto, this is Kenma." The smaller man tries to wave with the fingers that are visible, shaking the device.

Hiro immediately takes a hold of it before they drop it. "Here." He takes it from Kenma and signals Bokuto to walk towards the staircase.

"Thank you." Kenma says just before they start their descend.

He smiles. "Don't worry about it!" And down they go.

"You don't look very alike. But I can still see you're related." Akaashi turns to Kenma, who is looking at his face.

"I look like both my parents, but somehow he took over my father's french heritage the most."

Kenma look as if he is thinking. "I kind of see the European now that you mention it. I didn't know you have family from France."

Akaashi turns to the stairs when he hears his brother coming up again. "Not many people now it. My mother's family doesn't like it, so I never mention it."

"Oh." Kenma walks back to his apartment when Bokuto and Hiro come back, talking cheerfully.

"Hey Akaash'! Why didn't you introduce us earlier! He is so cool!" He stands next to Keiji and hoops an arm around his waist, pulling him close and making his face combust.

"Oh, don't make me blush Bokuto." They chuckle as Hiro clasps a hand on his brother's shoulder. "I'll see you both next weekend then." He then winks, waves, and walks down.

Next weekend? Oh. _Oh._

"What did he tell you about next weekend?" Akaashi gestures for him to come inside his apartment, which Bokuto does after closing the door of his own. They immediately walk towards the living room, Bokuto plops down horizontally on the sofa, while Akaashi sits on the bean bag and rests his head on the armrest nearest to the other's head. His hand goes to play with the bicolored locks, making Koutarou close his eyes and hum in relaxation.

"Bokuto-san."

He opens one eye and hums. "Oh right. He asked if I wanted to go to the family thing you guys have on Saturday night. Why didn't you tell me about this before?"

Akaashi closes his eyes as well, feeling tired from all the social interaction from the past days. "I usually don't go, but he asked me if I could make an exception this time and said yes."

"Oh, okay. Why did he invite me though? Not like I don't want to go! I do! I just find it weird." When Akaashi doesn't answer, he turns to look at him, the noise he makes when flopping on his belly making the other open his eyes. Teal meets golden, making Keiji jump a little at the sudden closeness. "Wait. Did you tell him about us?"

"Yeah, I did."

Bokuto's eyes widen. "But I thought you didn't want to tell your family until we were, like, official official?"

Akaashi nods "I guess he pestered me enough for me to tell him. And I don't think he'll tell my mom, so it's no big deal." He gets on his knees and pushes Bokuto on his back again, the other man looking confused until Keiji gets on top of him and lays his head on his chest. Bokuto's arms immediately go to his back and his hair, stroking it gently.

"You tired?" Akaashi hums in affirmation. "Did you sleep well last night?" Silence. "Guessed so. You can take a nap if you want. Do you still want to go to our date later?"

He lifts his head and looks at Bokuto, resting his chin on his chest. The muscle underneath moves as the owner moves his arms to Akaashi's lower back and hugs him. Keiji's hands move around Bokuto's chest, shoulders, and then his biceps, feeling how big but soft they are. He looks into Bokuto's eyes and sees the other looking at his lips for a moment.

"I wouldn't miss our date for anything."

Bokuto's golden eyes go to his eyes again, and when he smiles is Akaashi's turn to look at his pink lips.

"I'll wake you later then." The raven moves his head down again, Bokuto kisses his temple and hugs him tighter. "Now go to sleep, babe."

Akaashi feels himself blush at the nickname, but then closes his eyes on the obscure room and falls asleep.

\----------

Bokuto woke him up about an hour later than they were supposed to get there, causing Kuroo make fun of them

"How do you even get here an _hour_ late and try to make us believe it was because you fell asleep?"

"It's the truth!" Bokuto helps Akaashi takes his coat off when they enter their little cabin at the karaoke themed restaurant. Akaashi thanks him quietly as he hangs both their coats on the small hangers behind the door.

"Let them be, Tetsurou." Kenma says.

Kuroo just snorts, putting an arm around Kenma. Akaashi found out earlier this week from Bokuto that the two are together and have been for a long time, since they are childhood friends. On what stage of the relationship exactly, he is afraid to ask. He noticed a chain with a ring and some other stuff hanging from Kuroo's neck when he took the trash out shirtless once, now he just needs to find if and where Kenma has his since he has never seen the pudding head wearing a ring.

Bokuto sits on the U-shaped sofa next to Kenma, Akaashi on the edge. The two men already ordered some snacks and beers, Kuroo apparently is two in and Kenma surprisingly has one in front of him. Bokuto takes a hold of the phone inside the cabin and orders some beer for them and, from what he hears, three pizzas. Just how hungry is he.

The place, being a somewhat expensive one, has an excellent karaoke machine with songs from the 70's to the most recent hits, three wireless microphones and a huge screen that not only shows the lyrics, but the music video. This is the best and worst thing, since Bokuto and Kuroo make it their goal to sing _and_ dance along to the video on screen. Both of them mostly yell the lyrics or make silly voices while moving their hips way too much and out of rhythm.

"Akaashi" he turns and finds Kenma right beside him. "I see you don't like singing either."

He makes a face, Kenma smiling at him. "I don't actually mind. Even though I prefer to play music instead of singing."

Kenma perks up at the mention of playing music. "What do you play?"

"Violin, cello and piano. All since I was little. One of my aunts is a music teacher, so I had free classes until I got bored and simply stopped."

"I play the piano." Akaashi turns to him a little surprised, not seeing Kenma as one to learn how to play a classical instrument. Or any at all. "It was very easy to learn."

"Oh, really? For me it was a little confusing since I learned the string instruments first, even though my fingers are long it was hard for me to get to the right note in tempo."

Kenma takes a small sip from his beer, and just now Akaashi notices he has not looked at him for long, his eyes staying on Kuroo where he is trying to sing toxic by Britney Spears even if he doesn't know any word in English except for the title. There's a soft smile of his lips and a warm look in his amber eyes, the most vulnerable he has seen Kenma ever.

"It was easy for me because I have always typed fast and easy on computers and videogames. Kuroo also helped me a lot, it was his way of getting me out of my room. That, and volleyball." Akaashi has never heard Kenma talk this much, the man looks so open with a slight blush on his cheeks from his now almost empty bottle, and his eyes reflecting the colors from the TV. It remembers Akaashi of how Bokuto's eyes shine at times. Talking of Bokuto, he looks at the man, who is laughing with a beer on hand as Kuroo finishes his badly sang version of the Britney hit song. Another song with an English title appears, but he doesn't recognize it at first glance. Bokuto apparently does, and gets excited from it and takes the microphone from Kuroo even if there are another two in front of them on the rack below the TV. Akaashi suddenly recognizes the song as one from High School Musical.

That movie apparently haunts him now. _Not that it's such a bad thing._ He sees as Bokuto prepares himself to sing, clearing his throat as Kuroo sits down. "Oh this will be good." Akaashi looks at him, and the other notices. "Believe it or not, he has a great voice when he is not joking around."

_"I got a lot of things"_

Holy shit.

_"I have to do"_

Akaashi is now gayer.

_"All these distractions"_

How can his voice be so _deep_ and _melodic_.

_"Our future is coming soon"_

Is it weird he feels like having an ear orgasm right about now.

_"We've been pulled a hundred different directions."_ He turns around, knowing the lyrics from memory. _" But whatever happens, I know I've got you."_ He points at Keiji, which makes him become beet red as Kuroo whistles at them and laughs. _"You're in my mind, you're in my heart."_ he presses a hand to his chest as he makes as if he is falling back. _"It doesn't matter where we are, we'll be alright, even if we are miles apart."_

Bokuto then proceeds to jump on the table while keeping on serenading Akaashi, and now even Kenma is laughing even if he is trying to hide under Kuroo's arm in fear the owlish man could fall of the table. _"All I wanna do is be with you, be with you."_ He crouches down and takes Akaashi's hand, bringing it close to his chest. _"There's nothing we can't do, just wanna be with you, only you."_ He hops off the table, keeping the other's hand clutched tight on his. _"No matter where life takes us, nothing can break us apart. You know its true, I just wanna be with you."_

He lets go of Keiji's hand and does a spin on his foot, a little wobbly but he manages to do it whole. He then turns around as makes some silly dance steps, making them all laugh.

_"You know how life can be, it changes overnight"_

Wait why is he walking over with a microphone.

_"Its sunny, then raining. But it's alright."_

The microphone is in front of him, as if Bokuto expects him to sing. Kenma gives him a push as the first line he is supposed to sing with Bokuto passes, to which Akaashi glares back and takes the microphone, clearly not on his right mind since he would never do this fully sober.

But fuck it.

_"A friend like you, always makes it easy"_

Bokuto looks surprised when he sings. His voice is not as smooth as Bokuto's, but he can admit he doesn't sing bad. He was a theater kid in middle school, after all.

_"I know that you get me, every time."_ Bokuto takes his hand again and makes him stand up, making him spin as they sing together. _"Through every up, through every down, you know I'll always be around"_ Bokuto makes him spin some more, making Akaashi laugh. _"Through anything you can count on me."_

Bokuto stops spinning him and brings him close to his chest as they sing the chorus together. _"All I wanna do is be with you, be with you."_ Bokuto takes his free hand and moves it up at down in a mock tango, making their bodies swing with their hands as well. _"There's nothing we can't do. Just wanna be with you."_ They simultaneously point to each other. _"Only you."_ Then they proceed to step aside and copy the scene from the movie, doing little hops towards each other. _"No matter where life takes us, nothing can break us apart."_ They finally meet in the middle, close as before as Bokuto takes a hold of his waist. _"I just wanna be with you."_ Bokuto leans down and bumps his forehead softly, making Akaashi giggle. They look into each other's eyes as the last line of the song is sang, their voices both low but somehow harmonizing with each other. _"I just wanna be with you."_

Kenma applauds softly from his spot as Kuroo literally hoots loudly at them, but even with the couple's noise he cannot bring himself to look away from Bokuto's eyes, that are shining as beautiful as ever but somehow with a different, new kind of light. Bokuto hugs him close and kisses his cheek soundly, Akaashi pushing him away weakly from embarrassment .

"That was amazing Akaashi!" Another song starts in the background, getting Kuroo excited as he goes to take Bokuto's microphone and starts singing a song by LiSA. Akaashi takes him and Bokuto out of the way as Kenma takes his phone out to record, clearly laughing his ass off behind the camera. He makes Bokuto sit down, even if he bumps at the table, making all of the bottles rattle. He manages to sit them down, one of his legs ends up on top of Bokuto's but neither of them mind. He then realizes that Bokuto has not stopped looking at his face, which makes him turn his head from where he is seeing Kenma literally crying at Kuroo's dance and look into those golden eyes he can never get enough of.

"Hey" he whispers even if there is no need to, but it somehow keeps the moment between them.

Bokuto smiles and places a hand on his knee to rub at it softly, his other hand still embraced with Akaashi's. "Hey" he moves impossibly closer, like if analyzing the other man's face. "God, you are so pretty."

Akaashi immediately blushes. "Excuse me."

"I have always thought that you are so pretty, like you have such beautiful eyes and face and, ugh. I feel so lucky to be dating you, I cannot wait to call you my- my boyfriend." Bokuto takes his hand off his knee and looks deeply into his eyes as he cups Akaashi's face, the black haired man leaning into his palm while welcoming the warmth of the other's body.

Bokuto gets closer, giving Akaashi a peck on his temple by changing direction in the last moment. Then they just stare at each other until Kuroo's voice cracks funnily and makes them all burst out laughing. A voice curses near the door, and they find the waitress there laughing and apologizing, which makes them laugh even more as Kuroo tries to hide under the table from shame.

It's almost one a.m. when their double date finally comes to an end. Bokuto managed to get drunk after doing a shots competition with Kuroo, the cat-like man getting only two inside his body while Bokuto drank the rest they ordered for the four of them. Akaashi lost count on the sixth shot.

He supports Bokuto from one side and Kuroo from the other, trying to help Kenma get them to his car. Akaashi and Bokuto had walked there, so now they are all on the car, singing along to one of the many One Direction songs they had sang earlier, even Kenma joining in while driving, being the least intoxicated since he had just one beer and then water. Kuroo and Bokuto were too dangerous in front, so Akaashi sits shotgun as the drunkest of the four lay all tangled in the back, both falling asleep while trying to keep on singing a Japanese version they are making up of 'story of my life'.

When they get to their apartments, Kuroo immediately runs inside, probably to the bathroom. Bokuto clings to Akaashi's side, refusing to let Kenma take him.

"I think he wants to stay with you." Kenma says after trying for the third time to make Bokuto move.

"I noticed." Akaashi sighs. "Bokuto-san, we both need to go to sleep. Please let go of my arm." Bokuto seems to be falling asleep standing, totally ignoring Akaashi. He huffs, taking a better hold of him. "I guess I'll take him with me then."

Kenma seems to hesitate but shrugs. "Just now that his hangovers are not that bad. He doesn't vomit or anything, but sometimes he gets really down. If you need help just bang on the wall and I'll come over."

"Thank you Kenma." Both part their ways, Akaashi trying to keep standing as Bokuto is now falling more and let's say that thanks to his muscles he weights double of Keiji's weight.

He takes them both to his huge bed, somehow waking Bokuto enough to make him change out of his jeans and into a pair of Akaashi's pajama pants. He discards his shirt, claiming he is too warm for it. But that doesn't stop him from pulling Akaashi close when they are both under the covers.

"Hey, Akash'."

Akaashi tries to look up at where his head is under the other's chin and against his chest. "Yes, Bokuto-san?"

The owl man has his eyes closed, but he is not snoring yet, which means he is awake. Keiji gently knocks his knee with the other's, making Bokuto perk up. "Um, do you think we are going too fast?"

Akaashi stays silent as he sees how Bokuto's face looks relaxed, but his shoulders feel tense around him. "Do _you_ feel like we are going too fast?" When Bokuto doesn't answer for a while, instead opening his eyes slightly and caressing his partner's hair, Akaashi speaks up again but quieter. "Do you want to go slower?" Bokuto shrugs and closes his eyes, exhaling. "Let's talk tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay"

Both of them stay silent, Bokuto finally starts to snore as Akaashi stays awake, not being able to make his mind shut off. 'what if we are going too fast?' 'why if its too fast for Bokuto?' 'we haven't even kissed, but he has stayed over at least five times counting this one, right?' 'Is that what's bothering Bokuto?' 'What if he no longer wants to keep on dating?' 'What if Bokuto is not satisfied and wants to stop what they have been building all this time?'

Doubts and a million questions haunt his mind as he tries to sleep, suddenly he hears his phone vibrate, taking a hold of it he sees that somehow its already six a.m.

_I really can't shut my brain up, huh?_

He separates himself from Bokuto and changes clothes, deciding to go for a run. The air is still a little cold, but the streets are already busy even if it's the weekend. He runs for about ten minutes, then deciding to walk as he gets into an area with more people he could knock over. He passes some stores, seeing people already going in and out as the sun comes out more and more. Suddenly he gets to an even busier part of the city, he sees the time on an electric billboard and sees its 7 already. Walking back through the same path somehow feels different. He is not as tense, his mind is actually more calm, even if there's still that voice in the back of his mind.

As he walks back to the apartment, taking more time now that he is walking instead of running, he suddenly feels something warm on his hand. Looking down, there's the amethyst. _Why does it feel warm?_

Akaashi takes it on his hand and looks at it, finding a small glow in the center. He takes a deep breath after a little hill and notices the crystal glows more when he breaths deeply.

"Didn't Kuroo say it helped with anxiety? Or was that the black one?" He tells himself as he reaches the apartment, about an hour after going out.

He goes up the stairs quietly, the freaking things still squeaking as if somehow to give him away. When he reaches the apartment though, Suga goes out of his own. He looks freshly out of the shower, dressed in a hoodie and cuffed jeans. He doesn't seem to notice Akaashi at first, he is whispering at someone inside.

"Why do you always forget to take the trash out when you come home early? Don't even try to contradict me, Daichi." He turns around as the other man talks inside, sighing while closing the door. It's then that he sees the other man standing in the hallway. "Oh, hi Akaashi!"

"Hello Suga." The gray haired man smiles at him softly as he walks downstairs with the trash bag, leaving Akaashi alone. He opens the door and is hit with a strong smell of spices.

"Bokuto-san?" He takes his dirty shoes off and walks inside, finding Bokuto cooking something on the kitchen. He is still shirtless, the pajama pants hanging low on his hips. Now that they are not totally in the dark, the lamp on the living room making the apartment glow softly, he can perfectly see the other man's physique. And oh boy, is he fit as fuck.

"Akaashi?" the man gets taken out of his daydreaming and shakes his face, looking at the _very shirtless_ Bokuto. "You okay?"

He shrugs off his jacket, leaving it on the dining table as he enters the kitchen. He now sees that Bokuto is making miso soup, judging from the ingredients. "I should be the one asking you. Do you even remember last night?" He says it as a joke, but Bokuto doesn't laugh or even makes a face, instead his eyes stay on the stove. He gets closer slowly, sensing how he is on a not bad but down mood. "Do you want me to help?"

"Nah, it's alright." He finally turns to Keiji, looking at his basketball shorts and sport shirt. "You can go shower if you want to."

"You sure?"

Bokuto then tries to smile reassuringly, but his true shine is missing. "Yeah, you stink."

"Hey!" He softly punches Bokuto's arm, leaving his hand there and caressing where he hit as if it was actually hard. "Do you want to talk at breakfast?" The other nods, Akaashi humming as he walks to his room for clothes, then retreating to the bathroom to shower. After a quick shower, not wanting to leave Bokuto alone much longer, he goes out while drying his hair with a towel to find Bokuto sitting on the couch while passing the channels. He has his soup in hand, Akaashi's breakfast on the table with a plate on top to keep the heat inside.

Keiji makes sure to make noise while walking around to make Bokuto aware of his movements, that way he won't get startled. After putting some things in order, he sits down with a blanket, covering Bokuto and himself with it. He takes the bowl from the table as he tucks his feet under, half sitting on his legs as him and Bokuto lean against each other. The oldest man stopped on a channel where they pass American shows, he can see Friends playing on the TV, one of Bokuto's favorite shows as cliche as it is. The volume is low, keeping noise in the background as they eat.

Akaashi is halfway through breakfast when he hears something outside, realizing it has started to rain. Bokuto perks up, looking at the window.

"Is it cloudy?" He asks. Akaashi stands up softly and checks, without disturbing the curtains much in case there's still sun outside. The sky looks dark gray, making it feel as if the sun never fully came out. He is about to explain to Bokuto how the sky looks when the other speaks. "Can you open the blinds?"

Akaashi immediately turns to him. "You sure?" Bokuto nods while fiddling with his bowl, looking at its insides. Akaashi slowly opens the curtains, letting a little natural light come in. Bokuto first squints, but he doesn't seem uncomfortable at all. Keiji decides to let it be and goes back to the couch, continuing with his breakfast. Bokuto is now looking out as the rain gets heavier.

His mood is somehow as the weather, sudden and sad. The dark haired man lets his and Bokuto's bowls to leave them on the table. Bokuto doesn't turn to him at all, until Keiji tugs on his arm softly to take them both down. They are now the other way around from yesterday, Akaashi laying on his back and Bokuto's head laying on his chest as he looks out at the lighting striking outside. Keiji runs his fingers through the soft hair in front of him, pushing it back slowly. They stay like that as the rain falls, the TV running without anyone paying attention to it.

"Akaashi"

The voice is so soft and low the owner almost doesn't hear it, he hums to show the other he has his attention. Not that he didn't before.

"Sorry"

Akaashi frowns, his hand coming to a stop at the nape of Bokuto's neck. "There's nothing to be sorry about."

Bokuto stays silent for a while, when his voice comes it sounds sadder than before, but it's louder at least. "Most people don't like me when I'm like... this."

Akaashi resumes his hair stroking, trying to distract Bokuto from how his heart kind of skipped a beat from the tone of his voice, as if he is truly sorry and doesn't want to be that way. "I don't see a problem with it. You are hungover."

"It's not- There's more to it." Bokuto exhales, then takes a deep breath. "I sometimes get down like this, it used to happen to me when I was younger, suddenly getting sad or the smallest thing could make my mood come down. But it got worse after the alteration of my nervous system I guess."

Akaashi is confused. "Alteration of your system? What do you mean?"

There's a silence that feels tense, and Akaashi can tell that the answer is more heavy and personal. "When I was turned a vampire, it was not because I wanted to." He sounds like it pains him to say it, and when Akaashi is about to talk, Bokuto interrupts. "They messed up with me for a long time before they got the results they wanted. Normal vampires have always existed, but fukuro vampires are not natural, just so you know."

Akaashi wants to know more, but by how Bokuto says the last part it sounds like he doesn't want to stay on the matter anymore. '_...it was not because I wanted to._' Is that why he didn't want to talk much about it last time?

"I don't mind." A distraction for both of them is the best he can do right now, but he still wants to calm Bokuto's obvious anxiety, so he goes to the first conversation topic. "I don't mind your mood getting down like this. It doesn't bother me since it's part of who you are, and I'll be with you until you want me gone." He softly nuzzles Bokuto's hair from above, squeezing him softly. "When I said I liked you and wanted to date you, I meant all of you. The parts that I know and the ones that I'm still learning about."

Bokuto somehow relaxes even more then. "Hey." Silence again. "Have you ever being in love?"

Akaashi gets taken back by the question, but he can tell Bokuto is trying to tell him something The air doesn't have the weight from a minute ago, but he can still feel how Bokuto is trying to open up. So he follows along. "Not really. Aside from you, I have just dated another person and it didn't really work out." Bokuto hums, his hand playing with the other's sleeve. "Have you?"

"Yes." He answers so quickly it takes Akaashi back, even if he somehow felt like he knew the answer already. The rain gets heavier than it is as they look outside, the drops falling from the sky now reaching the balcony window and falling down towards the tiled floor outside. "It was way back. Met her at the camp I was training at in 1915."

When Bokuto mentions that, Akaashi knows it's not a happy story. That time was not very pleasant for the whole world, especially Japan. But he somehow can feel Bokuto relax, as if talking about this is him getting rid of chains that have been dragging him down for a long time.

"Would you like to tell me about her?"

Bokuto looks at him at that. "You want to?" Akaashi nods. "For real?"

"Yes, Bokuto-san. I can tell she's very important to you."

Bokuto sighs and loops his arm hanging off the couch with Keiji's, making them flush closer. "She was the daughter of a captain, training to be a nurse. She helped me a lot after they made me a vamp, when the military training got too strong. When the meds stopped working." Akaashi takes a glimpse at the other's face, it looks neutral, but his eyes emit a soft glow, barely visible. "I don't remember much about her. I don't remember much about that time in general. The experiments messed with my head sometimes." Akaashi tenses at the word _experiments_, to which Bokuto immediately starts stroking his arm softly. "Don't worry about that. They didn't hurt me badly or anything."

Silence. "If you say so."

Bokuto chuckles extremely softly, his voice almost unrecognizable. "Really, don't worry about it. They just did some exams to find all of my abilities and stuff." He feels Bokuto shiver, Akaashi's hand on his naked back feeling the slight tremor. "She helped me a lot for years, even after getting married. Dropped me off at the station years later when I got called to join some troops in Europe for the Second World War." He stops, his breath hitching a little. "I heard about the bomb from the main captain. Never saw her again."

Akaashi is speechless, preferring to comfort the other by hugging him even closer, kissing the top of his head and rubbing his back as if trying to get rid of the sadness in his partner's voice. Bokuto gets his arms around him fully somehow, hugging him back. They stay like that for some minutes when the vampire talks again.

"I dreamed of you last night."

"Oh?" Akaashi doesn't know where the conversation is going now. This was certainly a turn of events.

Bokuto manages to chuckle again, this time more genuine as he sits up and takes Keiji with him. They sit looking at each other, Akaashi's legs at the other's sides and his arms around his neck, Bokuto's around his waist. Bokuto glances back to the window, then looks back to Akaashi. His eyes are glowing, but it's not the same. This one gives the impression of a more dark glow instead of the yellowish light Akaashi is used to seeing.

"I don't know why, but I always have this dream before my mood goes down like this. I've... never told anybody this." He takes Akaashi's hand from his shoulder and holds it, playing with the fingers. "It's always me and her at the station. She says goodbye and I wake up, either feeling like death or at any time during the day I fall like this." Akaashi takes his other hand to cup both of Bokuto's, caressing them softly. "It has been like this for more than a century. Always me and her. This time I saw you, though."

Akaashi looks up from their hands, meeting the unfamiliar dark glow again. "You saw me at the station?"

Bokuto nods, a small smile laying on his lips. "You walked me to the train and stayed near my window, got on the train as always and you said goodbye to me. I saw you trying to keep up with the train, something she never did." Akaashi moves his hands up Bokuto's arms, seeing that the man is a little shaken by sharing such information. "I woke up like this, so I guess you'll now be the warning in my dreams." He smiles even softer as his hand comes up to cup Akaashi's cheek, moving a curl behind his ear.

Saying Akaashi is shocked is barely covering the surface of the amount of feelings inside his being. He cannot express anything else than the surprised expression on his face as Bokuto looks at him, waiting as he processes the information correctly and in its totality.

Bokuto used to dream of a person he lost, the person he truly loved and probably considered family enough to be with them for more than a decade. But now _Akaashi has replaced her._ He thinks about how he should be feeling bad about that, but the fact that Bokuto literally just told him that he is potentially _falling in love with him_ in a way doesn't let him function like a sane human being.

The man knew this girl for so long, she helped him and comforted him. She was there for him when he got sent to both wars, when people did experiments on him and probably mistreated him by the mythical race he was forced to be. And within two weeks and a half of knowing Bokuto, not even a week dating him officially, Akaashi took the girl's spot. Just how strong are Bokuto's feelings for him?

Are _his_ this strong as well?

Akaashi cannot form a single word, so he let's his actions speak for him.

The good thing, Bokuto kisses him back.

The bad thi- wait. There's none.

He closes his eyes when Bokuto tilts his head, deepening the kiss. Akaashi puts his hands on the other's shoulders, then to his neck, trying to bring them both closer. Bokuto holds his cheek with one hand, rounding his waist with the other. They part and get back together again, as if they can't get enough of each other. Both taste of miso soup, but neither care.

A small peck from Bokuto and they part, Akaashi keeps himself close, their foreheads leaning against each other's. Bokuto's hand goes to his still slightly damp hair, making Akaashi open his eyes and meet the light he is used to, the one that not a single star in the night sky possesses, the only being blessed with it being Bokuto Koutarou.

"Hey Bokuto" said man's eyes open big when the usual '-san' is not mentioned. Akaashi gives him a small peck by tilting his head down with a finger to the other's chin. "Me too." _I'm falling in love with you as well._

Bokuto finally smiles, his white teeth showing, making Akaashi smile as well and hug Bokuto, hiding his face on the place between his neck and shoulder. Bokuto holds him close and lets them fall back on the couch.

They stay like that for a while, enjoying each other's company and warmth. After a while, Bokuto and Akaashi fall asleep, as tangled and peaceful as ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> funfact: i almost made Iwaizumi Akaashi's brother since the beginning but then i was like 'nah'
> 
> song by Righteous Brothers.
> 
> Make sure to check out Suguru's [Tumblr blog](https://suguru.tumblr.com/), and if you want to chat here's [mine!](https://is-a-bell-tmblr.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Here's the link to the fic's [playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4YAnv5HBcFCg6Uf5CSeHUM)


	9. Little Things

It's Monday morning, six twenty four a.m. to be precise, and Akaashi is regretting all of his work related decisions.

He decided to change his schedule a little to the morning shift, now having to enter at 8, thankfully not being the one in charge to open at 6:30. But he has to stay there until 2 to make sure the evening shift change goes alright, so that's a little sad because he will have to eat lunch a little later than usual.

Akaashi's Sunday with Bokuto had been full of cuddles and quiet. But today his boyfriend decided to wake up at 4 a.m. to go for a run, coming back with breakfast while singing an ad for kids' cereal. Akaashi was already awake, but he refuses to move from his bed and get ready for work, which starts at seven. He lays there with the sheets a mess around him from how much he has been moving around, trying to find a position to fall asleep again even if his body is telling him that he is fully rested and in need to hurry and go to work.

His door suddenly opens, Bokuto peeking his head in. "Kaashi, breakfast is ready!"

He sits up and looks at Bokuto while deciding if he still has time to call Fumiko-san and change his shift to the late evening one as before. But a look at Bokuto's smile makes him get out of bed with a groan and walk out, he changed the shift to spend more time with him when there's no morning sun after all. Akaashi sees Bokuto brought some cakes, probably from the cafe downstairs. There are some with chocolate and others are sugarcoated. There's a bowl of fruit as well, and with a glance at the sink he confirms that Bokuto had sliced them, seeing the knife and some remaining little pieces of orange peel.

"Hey Akaash, you have work in like half an hour, don't you?" He nods, drinking some water while choosing a pastry to eat. He chooses a sugarcoated one, then walking to the coffee machine while taking a bite. There's a sour taste in his mouth, and he moans from how delicious the thing is now that he realizes that there's lemon filling. Bokuto laughs as he looks through the cabinets. "Do you have a thermos around here?"

Keiji puts the machine to work and leans on the sink while finishing the most delicious thing he has ever eaten. "The one over there has the tupperware, it must be in the back." Bokuto leans down to where Akaashi is pointing and opens the door. He moves things around, leaving a round tupperware outside. "You better go shower, I'll prepare your breakfast all ready to go! That way you won't be late."

Akaashi cleans his mouth before smiling toward the other man. "Thank you." He turns around, but not before leaning down to were Bokuto is looking for the thermos and giving him a kiss on top of his head. As he walks away he sees Bokuto's ears become pink as a giggle escapes his throat, a glance back shows Akaashi the big smile illuminating his features.

Bokuto's mood is the exact opposite from Sunday. He is now more animated and doesn't have the heavy air he had carried with him all day. The only thing that Akaashi sort of misses is the vulnerability with which he spoke, the openness of his movements and words as they shared stories all day, small details from their lives that mean something to them. Bokuto kept on telling him about friends through the years, when Akaashi asked if he wanted to talk about happier memories, Bokuto responded with:

_"I think I feel better when talking about this type of things. Most of the thoughts I have are related to them, either way, so I prefer to talk about them to let them out instead of keeping all those things inside of my head."_

Akaashi realized that Bokuto, as obnoxious and childish as he can be sometimes, has been through literal hell and back, both physically and mentally. From what he told Akaashi, he got bullied in school, then when the war began and got old enough for conscription, he went immediately. His parents didn't care much, that's all that he said about them. _'They were not very good at their job of being parents.'_

Bokuto also told him more about his training as both part of the military and as a vampire, he told anecdotes from the war that haunt his brain, battles that he fought, and people who left a mark on his soul. Akaashi felt as if the walls from the most intimate part of Bokuto's brain were coming down slowly, so he shared his own.

He told Bokuto about his father's death, how it made him develop severe anxiety that even haunts him to this day if he lets his mind wander. He told him about his mother's family, how they were never accepting of his father and how him and his brother are not always welcome at their grandfather's household, who lives alone near his mother. He told Bokuto about how he got bullied both in school and from his distant relatives when he came out as gay, how his mother had been scared once when he came home with a broken shoulder and a bloody nose from his cousins finding him on his way home and beating him to the ground.

_"Am I going to meet them next Saturday?_

When he asked that, Akaashi had been trying to braid the longest part of Bokuto's hair, but he always got distracted when the other talked so he let the hair loose, giving up. _"Probably. Two of them live in the United States, and the other is mostly travelling since he is a magazine photographer."_

_"Tell me if they go."_

__

__

_"Why?"_

Bokuto shrugs. _"Just to give them a piece of my mind."_

__

__

Akaashi would never compare his life, which he must admit has been a little hard, to Bokuto's. He has lived for so long and lost so many people, but he remains to be the most friendly, happy, and humble person Akaashi has ever met. He is a man that is not afraid of anything, not even of letting his more soft and weak side show, and Keiji admires him for that.

When he is finished drying his hair, letting those memories from yesterday let go, he sees Bokuto is changed and is on his phone with a thermos and the tupperware from before. He steps close to him and Bokuto immediately opens his arms and hugs him, Akaashi laying his head on his shoulder as Bokuto rests his hands on his back while texting someone, as he can tell from the tapping.

"Did you know there's a new couple who moved in? Suga says they came in yesterday and live on the apartment above mine!" Bokuto puts his phone back on his pocket as Akaashi leans back to look at his face as he talks.

"Maybe we'll meet them someday."

"Mhm!" Bokuto stares a him and smiles, pecking his lips fast as Akaashi moves to take the thermos with coffee. "I put fruit and an extra pastry for you, now let's go!"

Akaashi frowns as Bokuto walks to the door with the packed food in hand. "Bokuto, the sun is out at this time of the morning."

Koutarou turns back and looks a little confused, then he smiles. "Yeah, but it's still a little cloudy from yesterday's storm. So I though why not give you a ride to work!"

As they exit the apartment, Akaashi can't help the smile on his lips, but that doesn't change the worried feeling in his gut. "You sure you'll be alright?"

"Stop worrying so much! I have long sleeves and my sunblock, and Kuroo gave me the helmet back!" As they walk towards the backyard, where the door for the big garage is, Bokuto turns to him and smiles big, reaching for his hand. "I'll be alright, sunshine. So don't worry."

Akaashi sighs. "If you say so." He squeezes Bokuto's had when he takes notice of the petname. "Sunshine?"

Bokuto hums, but then realizes that Akaashi is asking about the nickname and not actually calling him it back. "Oh! Um, I don't know. I figured since I can't receive direct sun, you'll be my sunshine!" They get to the motorcycle and Bokuto opens the compartment, giving him the black helmet. This time, when he opens the other one, he takes a silver helmet with a pitch black visor out. "You're the one who makes me happy and warms me up from how cuddly you are."

Akaashi puts the helmet on after Bokuto safely lets his breakfast inside the compartments. "I am not cuddly."

Bokuto climbs on the motorcycle with a laugh. "Yes you are! And when you smile you shine like the sun! Even if you don't smile that much. I'll change that though!" When Akaashi hops on, he immediately grabs Bokuto's waist, this time more certain and feeling more secure than the last time.

"I guess it's alright then."

Even if he can't see his face, Akaashi knows that the other has a huge smile on his features. Bokuto turns the vehicle on and they exit the garage, racing through the streets. Akaashi keeps an eye on the sky, praying for the sun to stay as hidden as it is right now. The clouds are heavy, as if it's about to rain again any moment. Being the beginning of May, it's a little weird that it's raining that hard, since rain season starts in June or July.

Without noticing, they are in front of the shop, thankfully Bokuto didn't get lost from the brief explanation of how to get there when they had stopped at a traffic light when getting out of their street. Akaashi gets down, Bokuto following and looking for his breakfast and coffee. As Akaashi takes the helmet off, he puts it inside the compartment and takes the things from Bokuto's hands.

"Thank you for the ride."

"Don't worry!" His voice sounds a little muffled from the helmet, which makes Akaashi chuckle as Bokuto jumps on the motorcycle again. He turns slightly and pulls Akaashi in by grabbing his waist with one hand, the other taking the helmet off and letting it rest on top of his head. Bokuto squints a little first, but then relaxes and kisses Akaashi softly. His hands come to rest on Koutarou's shoulders, squeezing the muscle under his hands. He tilts his head to the side as Bokuto pulls him even closer, his lower front now pressed to the other's leg. They both lean back slowly, Bokuto giving him a small peck on the cheek. before completely pulling away

"If the sun's still playing hide and seek, I'll come and pick you up! And we can go eat somewhere if you'd like."

Akaashi nods and squeezes his shoulders one last time before walking towards the door. He hears the motorcycle go until he is inside, Bokuto probably making sure he gets in before going back to his own apartment.

When Akaashi steps inside, he has two people screaming in front of him immediately. Both with as much energy even if their looks are completely opposite.

"Are my eyes failing me, or is Akaashi blushing?"

"Forget that, Shrimpy! He had a full on make out session outside just now! And with a hot ass man." Oikawa does as he faints, falling on top of Hinata, who can barely support the other's weight. Akaashi rolls his eyes, very aware of the smile not leaving his lips. He goes to the counter to make what he came to do. Work. Not gossip.

But the other two literal children brained adults decided that they have to know about the, as Hinata has decided to call him, 'mysterious motorcycle man'.

"Just tell me who is he and I will go to work! I swear!" He clasps his hands together as if begging. Akaashi sighs, and if this is going to get rid of the annoying jumping tangerine, then he has to do it.

"He's my boyfriend."

Oikawa laughs as Hinata jumps. "Yeah, duh. You literally had your tongue down his throat like five minutes ago." Oikawa laughs even more now, kneeling on the floor while trying to breathe. "Oikawa shut it! I want to listen to Akaashi tell us about his man!"

Oikawa keeps on laughing until a woman enters the shop, he tries to calm down but when failing he goes to the back, where his occasional laugh can be heard. After Akaashi helps her find a haiku collection book, the brunette comes back and with just a look at Akaashi's face he laughs again.

"What now."

Oikawa takes a deep breath to try and answer clearly. "I just cannot look at you the same after Shrimpy's comment." He snorts and Hinata comes back as energetic as ever. 

"So, Akaashi. Tell us about the mysterious man."

"He is not so mysterious, I've met him once."

"You WHAT!" Hinata jumps towards Oikawa as if waiting the other to catch him, which he obviously doesn't, so Akaashi leans over the desk to try and catch the young boy's arm before he face plants on the floor. Instead of thanking him, he takes the opportunity to take Akaashi's wrist and torment him more.

"Can I meet him too!"

"No."

"But Akaashi! You're the last one from the book store gang to get a man!" Oikawa tries to contain his laughter at Hinata's commentary. "I am surprised all of us like men, now that I think about it." And that breaks Oikawa again.

They keep on nagging him as he eats the fruit Bokuto packed for him. Most of it its sour fruits, but the pastry is not like the one he already ate, it's a chocolate one. He'll save that for later.

Few people go to the shop that day, since its Monday there's some college students coming in about ten and then its all quiet. Akaashi manages to evade his co-workers' questions and annoying remarks about that morning. _'We just kissed.'_ But that's not enough as an excuse for them and for himself.

He has about an hour and a half of his lifelong shift left when he comes out of the staff bathroom just to find none other than Bokuto merrily conversing with Hinata and Oikawa on the coffee stand, where the brunette managed to convince Hinata of making his famous 'choco-caramel vanilla latte', the only ones that can take that much sugar are them two. But from where Keiji is standing he notices the small ball of joy making another one. _'Please don't tell me that one is for Bokuto.'_

As if on cue, the man turns to him and immediately smiles. Akaashi walks in their direction, as if pulled by Bokuto's energy and joy of seeing him. Oikawa notices and smiles at him.

"Look who came by!" His cocky smile while sipping on the metal straw makes Keiji slightly roll his eyes. He gets to Bokuto's side and gives him a small smile.

"So you decided to come, after all."

"Had nothing better to do." Bokuto takes his hand and rests them both on the tall counter as he leans against it to look at what Hinata is doing. Akaashi feels himself blush a little by how Bokuto manages to do all that so smooth, while he explodes from hormone malfunction.

He stays quiet as Hinata explains to the other what he's doing, Oikawa interrupting to add some things that the other forgets, which leads to them bickering for a few seconds about who created the recipe. At this point nobody knows for real who started the sweet monstrosity.

"The chocolate at the end is the BEST. I prefer white chocolate, but Oikawa always makes me use normal one when sharing." Hinata pouts as he adds the white chocolate, licking his lips at the end both in concentration and desire.

Whipped cream at the top, a mix of chocolate and caramel over it, and Hinata gives Bokuto the beverage. They all look at him in expectation, even if Akaashi knows he will say he likes it even if he doesn't just to please the excited pair. After one small sip, that turns into three, he smiles in surprise and looks at Hinata with way too much excitement over diabetes in a cup.

"This is so good!" He drinks more and way too fast, apparently immune to brain freeze. "You wanna to try?" He gestures the drink towards Akaashi, who shakes his head with a disgusted expression. Bokuto laughs at that. "Your loss!"

"You really like it?" Oikawa says way too animated. His eyes shining with the smile plastered on his face as he looks at Bokuto, who is literally chugging down the latte.

"I have never drank anything this good in my whole life." He closes his eyes and moans while drinking more and slouching on the counter. Keiji snorts a laugh at that and smiles at his partner, who starts to mix the drink with the whipping cream.

"I have another one! It has apple juice and cherry syrup with-"

"Please don't give him sugar overdose." Akaashi says under his breath, followed by a sigh as he lowers his head in disappointment. He feels Bokuto squeeze his hand and turns to the source, finding his golden eyes wide open as he keeps on sipping on the latte, finishing it as fast as he can as if the raven will take it away. Akaashi laughs at that, at the side of his eye he notices Hinata startle and stop cleaning the utensils.

"I have never heard Akaashi laugh, Oikkun." 

"Im not sure if I have either, Shrimpy."

Akaashi turns to where the other two are whispering loudly, both getting startled and looking to the side, Oikawa even whistling as if to prove his fake innocence. The brunette smiles at him and nods his head towards the door. "You can go early, if you want to. Not many costumers, either way."

Akaashi frowns a little. "There's no need for that."

Oikawa chuckles as he stretches with his hands above his head. "Just get your gay asses out of here."

He still doubts the offer, looking at Hinata and then to the door leading up to where Fumiko-san is. His hand gets a squeeze, and he turns to look at Bokuto smiling at him.

"Let's go, before it rains."

Akaashi looks at him and sighs, following the man out and grabbing his things from the counter in the way. He can tell Bokuto is hurrying to the parking lot around the building next to theirs, the sun shines a little harder through the heavy clouds since its around midday. When they get to the motorcycle, Bokuto lets go of his hand to take out the helmets and put Keiji's things inside the compartments. He puts on the helmet and some gloves fast, the tension leaving his shoulders. Akaashi lets the black helmet on the motorcycle and rubs his boyfriend's arms up and down slowly. He can tell Bokuto is looking at his face through the dark visor, so he leans his forehead on the helmet for a few seconds before putting his own and then both get on the vehicle.

Few minutes later and they are home just as soft rain starts to fall, growing fast. Akaashi barely takes the helmet off when Bokuto already has their lips sealed. He gets taken back, but then melts into the soft touch.

"Sorry for hurrying so much back at the shop." The taller man says, resting his forehead against the other's as he takes the helmet out of his hand to lay it on the motorcycle.

Akaashi hugs Koutarou's middle and softly taps their noses, a huge smile taking hold of his face. He leans in again and pecks Bokuto's lips, then stepping back and interlacing their hands.

Up they go and end up in Akaashi's apartment after both changed into more comfortable clothes. Bokuto is doing some sweet popcorn while Keiji looks for the next Harry Potter movie on their now days long marathon. He nuzzles into his fuzzy blanket, the air humid but cold thanks to the rain outside. The other man comes over with a bowl full of popcorn and sits beside Akaashi, getting under the blanket and pulling Keiji in with an arm around his shoulders.

"Hey Akaash'." He says as the Warner Brothers symbol appears on screen. Akaashi hums in acknowledgement while grabbing popcorn from the bowl on Bokuto's legs. "Hey."

After a nudge on the arm he looks up, trying to keep his eyes on the screen as the movie's first scene takes off. He looks back at Bokuto when he kisses his lips, pulling him closer. He then pulls away and kisses the side of his temple. Akaashi looks at him as the man gets more comfortable with a lazy smile.

"You good?" Akaashi asks.

Koutarou nods. "I just like kissing you."

He blushes hard, trying to hide his reddened cheeks on the other's shoulder. "Oh"

_Him and his 'oh's'._

Harry Potter is talking on screen but Akaashi cannot stop the feeling of Bokuto's lips on his with the recent comment the other made, extremely soft and with the faint taste of sweet popcorn he ate on the way from the kitchen.

Just a sneaky little kiss won't hurt anyone, right?

Akaashi tilts his face up to look at the other man, who glances at him immediately. The youngest stretches his neck to kiss Bokuto, lingering in place for a few seconds. When he moves away, believing he is satisfied, Bokuto follows his lips and seals them again, a hand gently cupping his face while the other is pulling him closer around his shoulders. Akaashi lets his eyes close after a second of being taken by surprise, he relaxes and kisses back with the same force as Koutarou.

He can feel Bokuto's tongue requesting entry by licking at his bottom lip, and Akaashi lets him roam free. They both taste of sweet popcorn, Akaashi with a soft lingering of coffee from the shop. Yes, shame on him on not brushing his teeth when he came home. But the popcorn would have tasted weird.

Akaashi pushes Bokuto back on the cushion, almost completely on top of him. His hands rest on the other's abdomen, as his mouth is glued to the man below him. Bokuto pulls him in by one hip and makes Keiji sit on one of his thighs, lifting one of his legs to straddle Bokuto's whole lap. Akaashi's hands travel up to Bokuto's shoulders, tangling his hands on his hair. He slightly pulls at it, bringing a groan from his boyfriend's throat.

_'He likes to get his hair pulled, huh?'_

He pulls at it again and Bokuto straight up _moans_. Akaashi pulls his face away for a second to breathe, realizing they are both out of breath and extremely flushed. He cups one of Bokuto's cheeks and looks into his eyes. Golden and teal meet, Bokuto immediately smiles and his eyes shine more. Akaashi brushes his hair back, getting rid of almost all of the remaining gel and making it softer. Bokuto squeezes his hips and then hugs him closer, burring his face in the space between Akaashi's neck and shoulder.

While settling down on Bokuto's legs and brushing his hair, he can faintly hear him purring. _'An owl thing probably.'_ Akaashi hears the music from the movie pause and then Bokuto's hands are under his thighs.

"B-Bokuto-san?" He asks a little lost as the other picks him up and walks to Akaashi's bedroom.

He softly lays him on the mattress and climbs up after him, letting his head rest on the raven's chest.

"Bo?" He lays one hand on his hair and the other on his back.

"The sun was coming out." Koutarou mumbles from where his mouth is squashed against his shirt. Akaashi looks out the half closed door and sees that there is actually some light reflecting into the room.

"Sorry for not noticing."

Bokuto lifts his head and smiles. "Nah, don't worry. We were busy." At this he climbs up a little more up his chest, their faces directly in front of each other. Keiji can see a smirk pulling at his lips, but he doesn't let it grow and connects their lips again. Bokuto hums happily and sucks at Akaashi's bottom lip as his body comes up to cage Keiji's. It is now turn for him to try and suppress his voice, knowing that from his room everything can be heard into the one next door, where probably Kuroo or Kenma are at the moment.

They press hard against each other when there is a loud knock on the door. They both jolt as if caught, making their foreheads bump. With a whine and then laugh, Akaashi stands up and goes to the door while dragging his feet, in the way closing the blinds for Bokuto to be able to come out. When opening the door he finds the person he did not expect at all to be there, not in a million of years.

"Mom?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They just got cockblocked by Akaashi's mom lol  
did ya nasties really thought they were going to have s3x? fools  
song is little things by one direction!!!
> 
> Make sure to check out Suguru's [Tumblr blog](https://suguru.tumblr.com/), and if you want to chat here's [mine!](https://is-a-bell-tmblr.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Here's the link to the fic's [playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4YAnv5HBcFCg6Uf5CSeHUM)


	10. What mama say (life is good)

Akaashi's mother is here. Bokuto is inside. He has half a boner, his boyfriend probably does as well.

_What the fuck is happening?_

"Why do you look like if you just met a ghost? I know I'm old, but not that much, jeez."

"Wha-what are you doing here?"

She looks at him with a small glare. "Sugawara let me in. Came to convince you to not escape from the family gathering by bribing you with food."

Akaashi looks to the side where Bokuto is walking towards him, his hair and clothes all frazzled, he probably looks the same. "Sorry, _mom._" He empathizes the last word and glances at Bokuto again. He frowns and then his eyes go wide, quietly rushing to the bathroom. Akaashi hides his urge to laugh as he lets his mother inside.

"Why do you look so gone and sweaty?

Akaashi looks down at himself. "I was, doing exercise?"

He thinks she somehow bought it.

He follows his mother to the kitchen, where she lets her purse down and takes out something. A tupperware.

"Brought you pastries. New recipe from your grandmother." She opens it and looks for a plate as Akaashi stands near the living room, keeping one eye in the bathroom. "I'll make tea so that we can eat these properly. Now go and tell your friend to come out from where they are hiding."

"Excuse me." _There is no way she knows._

Her eyes look at him unamused, turning back to the tea box seconds later.

_She knows._

It's almost a walk of shame to the bathroom. He opens the door and finds Bokuto sitting on the lid of the closed toilet. His face looks reddish as if he washed it and then scrubbed it clean very harshly. His hair slicked back but some strands escape to fall a his sides and forehead. His eyes turn to Akaashi for a second, both staying quiet to then burst out laughing while trying to keep it low. They shush each other like children, and after about a minute they manage to calm down.

"Is your mother really out there?"

He sighs and looks down. "I didn't plan on you two meeting this way."

Keiji looks at the way Bokuto takes his hand delicately, as if made of porcelain. He lifts the hand to his lips and gives it a little kiss at the knuckles. "It's fine."

They look at each other, Akaashi squeezing his hand to show gratitude at the other's support, and then they walk out. Both let their hands drop before turning the small corner to the kitchen. Bokuto stops him from his shirt and combs his fingers through dark curls, not only making him look a little more presentable but also to calm Akaashi's nerves. They smile at each other and go into the room at the other side of the wall.

"Mom, this is Bokuto Koutarou."

She turns from where she is taking cups out of a cabinet. Her smile is welcoming and warm. "Pleasure meeting you, I'm Minato."

They cross the kitchen and Bokuto takes her hand, bowing in acknowledgement. "Good to finally meet you as well! Akash' has told me many things about you."

A single eyebrow goes up. "All good I hope." She says with a teasing tone, to which Bokuto chuckles with many nods. The woman turns back to the teacups and moves them to the center table. "Keiji, dear, please take this to the living room."

He takes the things and walks to where him and Bokuto left everything about ten minutes ago. After cleaning the place is when he goes back to the kitchen, where his mother and Koutarou are chatting about tea.

"Yeah! I love it! My grandfather had a tea farm when I was younger."

"Oh, really?" She turns to Akaashi and gives him more plates, literally kicking him out from the conversation. He pouts and Bokuto sees him, visibly suppressing a laugh.

Back in the living room he makes sure the blinds are entirely closed before going back, where their conversation about tea continues.

Minato interrupts it to address her son. "Help me with the tea, darling."

He nods and takes the ceramic teapot from her hands. Bokuto takes the pastries from the table and they all walk towards the other side of the compact apartment. Akaashi and Bokuto seat side by side on the sofa while Minato on the loveseat, one of her legs comfortably tucked under her as Akaashi passes her a cup with tea.

He then gives one to Bokuto, to which the man replies with an immediate and quiet "Thanks babe". Minato lifts an eyebrow to her son but doesn't ask, thank god.

When he sits back with his own filled cup, he feels the presence of Bokuto's arm around his shoulders as he pulls them a little closer. _He really said 'fuck it lets make her know, huh._

"So Akaashi, Bokuto is the friend Hiro told me you'll be taking Saturday, right?"

_'So he spilled the beans. Imma beat that motherfucker.'_ His minds says, but his mouth answers. "Yeah, they accidentally met when Hiro was leaving and decided to ask him."

She hums. "Have you ever been to that part of the city, Bokuto? I wouldn't call it a hundred percent countryside, but it is different that the city here."

He smiles. "I've been to the outskirts of the city, but that part specifically I'm not sure."

Minato smiles. "Oh, why don't you stay the weekend? Both of you."

Akaashi glances at the man beside him. "I think Bokuto has work."

Bokuto seems to understand when Keiji subtly glances at the window. "I think a day off doesn't hurt anyone, does it?"

_'You wanna fry to death?!' _ Akaashi thinks when his head fully turns to the other. Bokuto moves his hand where it is resting on the sofa and slowly gives a small caress to Akaashi's neck in a form of saying 'it's fine'. They will talk about this later.

"Wonderful!" she says way too happily. "But I do have to warn you that my other son, Hiro, and his girlfriend will be staying there as well and tend to jokingly bully Keiji. If you become their next victim it is not my fault." She sips at her hot tea as the other two laugh at her comment.

They keep on chatting while drinking the fruit tea and eating pastries, Bokuto asking for the recipe and his mother saying that he can give it to him when he comes over, which she almost never does when it comes to recipes so close to home like this one. After a while, she mentions how its getting late and still has to go back and do some work, so they lead her to the door.

"So good meeting you, Bokuto." She says after putting her shoes on. "I hope to see you Saturday."

He smiles brightly while leaning on Akaashi, probably dulled and sleepy from the tea. "I'll be there!"

She smiles softly and turns to Keiji, holding his head to bring him down and give him a peck on the forehead. "Behave yourself." She then goes out and down the stairs delicately.

Akaashi closes the door and Bokuto immediately starts to laugh. "BEHAVE YOURSELF!" He laughs some more when Akaashi rolls his eyes and walks to the living room to flop on the beanbag. "She really said that! Do you think she knows we were making out before she came?"

He groans. "Don't even bring that up."

Bokuto's laugh fills the apartment with joy, as Akaashi mourns himself near the floor. The owlish man reaches down and effortlessly moves Akaashi to the side, getting himself under him to hug him close. Akaashi covers his face when Bokuto kisses his temple and chuckles against it.

"Would you stop that?"

He looks down. "Kissing you?"

"What? No, never." Bokuto snorts a laugh when Akaashi catches up with his words and blushes deep. "I meant laughing at me."

"I'm not laughing at you." He says while visibly containing another one of those boisterous laughs of his. Akaashi pouts at that, deciding to poke at his belly. Bokuto immediately lets the sound out, catching Akaashi's hand as a tickle war begins. Bokuto wining it minutes later by pinning Akaashi to the beanbag, both turning scarlet at the position. Bokuto slips and falls next to him, where he stays to take a nap minutes later while Keiji goes to wash the dishes.

\----------

Akaashi found the bad way that Bokuto hates cars.

They hit the road at seven a.m. so that they could get to Akaashi's family house without the blazing midday sun. The rain stopped Wednesday, and from then on the sky has been clear enough to make Bokuto's skin itch, but thankfully not burn. Twenty minutes into the small field trip and they had stopped twice already since Bokuto puked once, the other he was close. He apologizes like crazy, Akaashi brushing him aside while opening all the windows on Kenma's car.

They got to the house in two hours an a half, not only thanks to the two stops but also for many more they did so Bokuto could look at animals and a small flower farm when they got into a more rural and neighborhood area. The sun was already out, the hottest it has been in a long time. Bokuto has long sleeves and a cap, but even through the car's tinted windows he scratches at his neck and cheeks. Akaashi takes his hand away from his face multiple times before he passes him a jacket.

"Use this to cover your face when going inside the house. I'll take the things out." He pushes his other hand away. "And please stop touching your face."

Bokuto pouts. "It itches."

"Didn't you bring the sunblock Kuroo made for you?" He opens the door slightly, making sure the shade from the tree they are hiding under is enough to hide must sunrays.

"It's inside my bag. Let me get it!" He goes between the seats and stretches to grab it. His shirt riles up, giving Akaashi the perfect view of his abs. Bokuto suddenly comes back and Akaashi looks away. "Aha!"

"Give it to me." Akaashi extends his hand and takes the plastic bottle that has written 'for owls only' in Kuroo's messy handwriting. After pouring some on his hand, he gestures Bokuto over and slowly spreads it over his face and neck, the man closing his eyes and leaning into his touches. Akaashi suddenly pinches his cheek and the man jump with a loud yell, to which Akaashi ceases his loud laugh to cover his mouth.

"They'll hear you inside the house!" He giggles as Bokuto glares at him as a kid. Akaashi laughs some more before leaning in and pecking where he pinched. "There, all better."

Bokuto smiles cheekily. "My lips also hurt, Akash."

Keiji pushes his face away as Bokuto laughs at his cherry cheeks. He then gets out the car and opens the back door, getting their backpacks and walking to the main door of the house. He opens it and gestures for Bokuto, who puts his cap back on and walks out with the jacket over his head. They both get inside silently and Akaashi immediately walks to the kitchen, letting their bags on the table before taking a glass to pour some water and calm the thirst caused from the temperature outside.

"Do you want something, Bokuto?"

He turns to his partner just to find him looking at something on the wall. A family picture.

Akaashi walks over with the glass and hooks his chin over the other's shoulder. The picture is from when he was little, some time before his dad got sick. He sits still on his mother's lap as Hiro stands next to her, his father behind with a hand on both their shoulders. Akaashi and his father have the same small smile, showing their uncanny resemblance more.

"You were such a chubby kid."

Akaashi unhooks his chin and glares. "I was not."

Bokuto turns around and catches him on his arms, pulling Akaashi in by the hips. "The cutest chubby kid."

Akaashi crosses his arms as best as he can with Bokuto pulling him in and having a glass in hand. He lets the glass on the kitchen table beside them and tries to get away from the other's grip, just to get pulled stronger until their entire fronts are pressed together. Keiji has his hands resting on Bokuto's chest, he then moves them to his neck as the man gets close and kisses him. Akaashi tilts his head, fully ready to deepen the kiss when they get interrupted.

"Glad to see you're home."

He pulls back in surprise, finding Hiro entering the kitchen in sweats and an oversize shirt. Akaashi immediately hides his face on Bokuto's shoulder as the taller man laughs softly.

"Hey Hiro!"

"Hi Bokuto, glad to see you again, man." He hears him clasp Bokuto's shoulder as he walks towards the fridge. "Mom and Denise are still asleep, so be careful going up when you do."

"Sure." Bokuto says as he moves from Akaashi to get their backpacks. The dark haired man glares at his brother, who pokes his tongue out before silently laughing to himself while eating a cookie from a crystal jar. Akaashi follows Bokuto to the staircase, where he takes the lead and they walk up to the very end of the hallway where his room is. It's very alike to the one he is currently living in, this one with the exception of a bookcase that's half empty, his books in boxes back in the apartment, the only things being Lego figures accompanied by trophies and medals from back in school.

Bokuto looks around, as if he is seeing Akaashi's own private and most secret details. He closes the door and walks to the blinds to close them, Bokuto still standing looking at photos hanging on the wall by the bed.

"They are the friends from school you told me about, right?"

Akaashi waddles tiredly to where Bokuto is looking at yet another picture. It's one from high school graduation, when after the ceremony him, Komi and Konoha went to McDonald's. Its a picture of the three of them laughing, still wearing their uniforms, the diplomas on the table. Next to that picture its one from their first year, at the same rusty McDonald's when his friends took him there for his birthday, claiming 'that's where little kids like him celebrate their birthdays', when in reality they both were just one year older since Akaashi got ahead when homeschooling.

"Komi and Konoha." He points to each one of them when saying their names. "Both live near us, maybe one day you can all meet." Not the best idea since they would all cause such a mess, but the smile on Bokuto's face is worth the offer.

After some time, both showering since they got out so early and fast, they go down dragged by the smell of food. They meet with the rest of the family already eating.

"Hey boys!" Minato says when she sees them. She first hugs Bokuto and gives him a huge kiss on the cheek that leaves him pink, making Akaashi cackle silently. His mother then moves to him and hugs him as well. "I hope you're both hungry."

Bokuto wanders to see what she is bringing out of the oven, a line of croissants now joining the rest on the table.

"Your brother made way too much batter." Minato says with a playful glare towards her son. "Which means you will all go home as fat as these croissants."

"We can always take some home." A woman says where she is mixing some sweet filling by the table. She is small and curvy, her bouncy curls pulled up in a puffy ponytail and looking way too big for her, which is adorable. Her dark skin makes the florescent pink shirt look better than in most people. Her strong but round factions are beautiful, and the glasses on her nose have a yellow rim, making her always colorful image be present even while in pajamas and baking.

"Oh no, no leftovers. Not a single croissant gets out of this house in physical form."

Bokuto has now noticed Denise and smiles at her. "Hey! Didn't see you there before. I'm Bokuto!"

She glances at Hiro, who probably already told her who he is to Akaashi. She smiles a huge grin, literally the only one that Keiji believes can rival Bokuto's.

"I'm Denise. You'll be staying the weekend as well?" She keeps on mixing until Hiro stops her and takes the bowl from her hands, giving it to his mother.

"Yup!"

They both start chatting, being extremely sociable people compared to the brothers, who help their mother to make the croissants as fat as possible to get rid of all the batter Hiro did.

Akaashi started to make himself some coffee as everyone else eat when Bokuto appears beside him.

"Another one?" He rests his head on Keiji's shoulder, looking down as the black liquid brews.

Akaashi glances at him, meeting with shining eyes and pinkish lips. "It's my gasoline."

Bokuto laughs quietly, bumping their heads softly. "Just don't drink anymore later today, okay? It's not good for you."

"I once survived a whole week by drinking five cups daily. I'm immune."

His boyfriends perks up and actually looks convinced for a moment. "Really?"

"No."

"Akaasheeee!"

He laughs as Bokuto slumps against him, making him almost fall. He takes hold of the other's shoulders while laughing. "Bokuto, you're going to make us fall."

At that the man lets his whole weight on Akaashi, making him almost choke with laughter while keeping them up. He can hear the rest of the conversation in the kitchen has come to a stop, now both men having spectators. But he can't worry about that when a full on man who is not only taller but way bulkier than him is about to crush him before he has coffee.

"Bokuto!"

"Akashii!"

He groans when his knees barely hit the floor, that's when an idea comes to mind and he decides to move to the side on the last second, which makes Koutarou fall to the floor. With his superhuman reflexes he obviously catches himself, and when he is on the floor he kicks at his lover's knee, making it buckle so that he loses equilibrium and almost falls on top of him, Akaashi barely catching himself on the counter.

"I'm going to kill you." He says between his teeth, Bokuto stands up and runs to hide behind Denise, who is just laughing at the boys' antics with the rest of the people present. Akaashi realizes this and groans, turning to serve his coffee. He takes another cup out, barely pouring coffee to fill the rest with milk and then way too much sugar.

As if on cue, Bokuto appears slowly and ready to bolt at any second from one side. "Is there any coffee left?"

Keiji gives him the cup, to which Bokuto at first looks confused at, but then smiles and kisses his temple, mumbling a soft 'thank you' before returning to where he is again talking to Denise about some weird American show they both watch. Akaashi smiles gently while blowing on his coffee, almost dropping it when his brother appears beside him.

"She knows?"

With a glance at his mother, Akaashi shakes his head. "I haven't personally told her, but I think she already figured it out."

Hiro scoffs. "Like if you're even trying to hide it. I did find you making out in the kitchen entrance this morning."

Akaashi chokes on his coffee and begins to cough, blaming the temperature when his mother and Bokuto both glance at him worriedly. He turns to his brother once again, glaring with such intensity that if looks could kill, Hiro would be six feet under already.

"We weren't- we-" he coughs again.

"Yeah, yeah, keep on lying to yourself."

Keiji glares at him. "I choked."

"On his tongue? Yes, we already established that I was present." He gets pushed to the side by his brother, Keiji then drinking the rest of his very hot coffee to go and lay somewhere to try and hide from his brother's teasing.

"We can go to the fields today! The sky is clearer than it has been the other days." Denise says to Bokuto, they are probably talking about the flower fields or something Bokuto spotted on the way here. Keiji stops next to them to kind of incorporate himself into the conversation now that this topic has surfaced.

"To the flower fields?" Keiji asks when he notices Bokuto glancing to the window on the living room. For now, the sun doesn't come in directly into the kitchen, but he can tell Bokuto is now considering that nobody here knows about him being a vampire.

"Yeah! But um," Bokuto rubs at his neck. "I'm not supposed to be in direct sun for a long time. I have type one albinism."

Akaashi perks up at that. _He was not expecting that excuse, but it actually makes sense._

"Oh!" Denise looks at him for a second and then smiles. "I honestly don't know how I didn't notice before!."

Bokuto laughs awkwardly. "Don't worry about it, I have been told its not very noticeable than with other people. And also I dye my hair kind of grey! So that throws some off."

"Well, you're still very handsome. Albinism or not." Minato says from where she is picking up croissants with Hiro. "We can wait until the sun goes down a little, and if it doesn't, then we can always do many things inside."

Akaashi feels a warmth spread inside his abdomen, up to his throat. It feels pleasant and as if it is embracing him slowly. A smile takes over his lips when Bokuto glances at him and half smiles cheekily, as if he knows that what he is saying is partly truth, and still the Akaashi family fully understands without being uncomfortable in any way. Keiji decides to excuse himself and goes upstairs, closing all the blinds he can find on his way. Laying down on his bed and looking at the glowing star stickers has never felt more relieving. He finds something warm on his hand, and pulls it up to find the amethyst. It isn't lit up as it was when his anxiety was acting up, but it's just emitting the same warmth he felt inside himself.

It could be that their energies are combined or something? He shrugs and stays looking at it, the color capturing his full attention. Suddenly there's a knock on his door, and without looking he answers.

"You don't need to knock on the door, Bokuto." He turns to find his mother standing there with an amused expression, to which he takes the pillow and hides his face on it. She giggles and walks inside, sitting beside her son and patting his arms to take the pillow off his face.

"When were you planning on telling me you're dating Bokuto?"

Keiji looks at her for some seconds, as if his brain refuses to process what she just said, then when he catches up the pillow returns to his face. His mother laughs and rips it away, pulling Keiji from his hands gently until he is sitting up beside her. She lets one hand brush his messy curls back, the roots still a little humid from his shower earlier. Minato stares at him, a soft look of admiration only a mother can give makes him softly melt against her, laying his head on her shoulder.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" He hums. "Your brother gave me clues when he came back last week. He seemed way too happy, but refused to tell me why. Your sex-look when opening the door gave me the answer I needed, though."

He lifts his head and glares at her, his mother just stares innocently back at his flushed face. "We didn't have sex, mom."

She shrugs. "If you say so."

"Mom!"

Her laugh makes him exhale and then rest his head back on her shoulder to hide his blush, something he cannot go a day without now. "Okay, but I'm not sorry. You even tried to hide him, so what was I supposed to think?"

Keiji stays silent, his hands tangling together as a tight knot of anxiety grows in his gut. His mom takes one of his hands and squeezes it.

"You know I fully support you, all of us do. It would just be nice if you told me when you started dating or something so that I didn't interrupt you guys while doing I don't know what sin."

"I am about to kick you out of my room."

Minato laughs. "You wouldn't dare." She tugs at his hand and makes him look up to meet her eyes, but he evades her. "Look at me." He makes their identical eyes meet. "I love you, honey. And I can tell that boy does as well. I have never seen you happier, and that makes _me_ happy. If you ever need anything, I am here for you, my boy."

Keiji immediately hugs her, a weight he believed to be none existent lifting off his chest. She lets go and stands up, walking out with a smile. She lets the door half open, Keiji about to stand and close it as routine when Bokuto comes in, tackling him back on the bed.

"I ate so much I'm sleepy."

He pulls them properly into the bed, Bokuto on top of him with his head right on his chest. He lets his hands move up and down his back.

"Let's take a nap? I'm tired from the drive."

Bokuto just nods, taking a deep breath and relaxing comfortably. Akaashi lets his hands go up and down for a while the other's back for a while, lulling them both to a sleepier state.

"Hey Akaashi."

He lets his eyes close. "Yes, Bokuto?"

"I love your family."

As always, he doesn't know what to respond to that, _'thank you'?_. So he lets his actions speak first, palms clasping around Bokuto's round ass.

"Nice butt."

"AKAASHI!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song is by Jason Mraz!
> 
> Make sure to check out Suguru's [Tumblr blog](https://suguru.tumblr.com/), and if you want to chat here's [mine!](https://is-a-bell-tmblr.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Here's the link to the fic's [playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4YAnv5HBcFCg6Uf5CSeHUM)


	11. With a little help from my friends

Next morning Bokuto and Akaashi woke up early enough to go for a walk by a nearby field before the sun fully came out. Bokuto insisted on going when they were falling asleep at like on in the morning, Keiji saying yes just to make him shut up.

Which was a mistake because they slept like four hours and now they have to walk about half a kilometre to get to the tree the owlish man saw from the distance. Akaashi doesn't say anything to show he is tired, more than drag his feet as Bokuto pulls him along by his hand. When they get closer to the tree he realizes its bigger than what he thought, the branches thick and going up tall. It doesn't have many leaves, most of them laying on the floor. Some roots curling up from the damp soil on the floor. There is something what looks like what used to be a swing on one big branch that's threatening to fall, with the wooden swing being almost touching the ground.

"Hey 'Kaashi! Look at this!" He turns to find Bokuto pointing to a butterfly standing on the dark log. The little insect visible thanks to the white and what looks like red on its wings.

"I've never seen a butterfly like this one."

Bokuto smiles his way while picking the butterfly up with his finger. "Because it's not a butterfly, silly. It's a soul!"

Akaashi takes a step forward now that the other has the little insect on his hand. "A soul, you say?" _He can no longer get surprised by this type of comments, can he?_

"Yup!" Bokuto lets it pass from one finger to the other, the small thing hoping around like its a game. "When people die, they can either become a spirit, demon, or reincarnate as any creature. But I have learned with time that there are some that when they die, they become guardians. They can take any shape, the most common one being butterflies! Oh, and dogs!"

Akaashi extends a finger towards the little creature, Koutarou lets it hop on his finger. "Is that why dogs are so friendly with humans?"

"Yeah. Most of the time children's souls are the one's who transform into butterflies, that's why they are so shy."

Keiji looks at the other and then back at the butterfly flapping its wings on his fingers. He looks closer, the sun coming out a little more and making him be able to take a more careful look to the butterfly's wings. They have red and orange lines along its white wings. Truly supernatural.

"Hello." He says to it. The butterfly flaps its wings once, twice, before it flies to his face. "Oh, is that a hug?"

He hears something and turns to find Bokuto lowering his phone and looking at the screen with a warm expression. "This beats the bird one you sent me."

While moving to take a look at the phone, the butterfly flies to his nose, making it hard to look down. "Could you move a little, please?" The butterfly walks to his forehead. "Thank you." He looks at the picture Bokuto now has as his lockscreen.

Eyes looking at the butterfly, shoulders relaxed, a small smile on his face, and the sun peaking out from behind, its actually a good picture, he must admit. Koutarou looks up at him, almost knocking the butterfly with his nose. The small being gets scared and flies down to Akaashi's lips.

"Oh, no no. That's my territory." Bokuto says, which makes Akaashi chuckle. This causes the butterfly to fly up to one of the branches. Akaashi is looking at the path it is taking when his sight gets obstructed by Bokuto. He moves his eyes down to meet the other's when he says. "Can I kiss you?"

Akaashi doesn't answer and just leans in, grabbing the back of Bokuto's head to pull him close. They both sigh and relax against the other. Bokuto takes a few steps, making Akaashi's back to bump with the trunk.

He is now leaning against the tree, Bokuto with one hand on his hip and the other resting next to him on the wood as he leans down to kiss his boyfriend. When Bokuto licks at Akaashi's bottom lip, the other already has his lips split open. The kiss deepens, but then Akaashi feels something and opens one eye to find the butterfly flopping down on Bokuto's forehead. They both look at it, the tallest crossing his eyes to look between his eyebrows.

"You want a kiss too?" Bokuto says, the butterfly stepping on his eye before going away. "Hey! Come here!"

They watch as it flies away, and that's when they notice the sun coming up.

"We should be going back, babe." Akaashi says with a tired voice and a yawn.

He tries to pull at Bokuto's hand but the other refuses to move, instead saying. "What did you call me?" With a teasing and surprised tone.

"Shut up." He says while trying to pull at his partner's hand again. The other as planted on place as the tree.

"Oh, come on sunshine. Call me that again."

Akaashi has nothing more to do than blush at that whole comment.

And of course, being the not at all morning person he is, which means he does not act consciously until ten AM, Akaashi steps up to the man's personal space, looking up to meet his eyes with hooded lids.

He makes sure to make his voice low and almost as a whisper when saying "Nous devons retourner à la maison, mon chèri."

Bokuto immediately blows up in flames, red all the way to his hairline. He tries to say something, but his throat closes and his tongue makes him stutter. Akaashi keeps on looking at him, taking one hand to the other's neck, stroking from the base to his ear, where he goes to cup his cheek. Bokuto becomes impossibly red, his first words being

"French?" in a wobbly and quiet voice. Akaashi pulls him a little closer, almost touching from head to toe. Bokuto holds his hips tight, his eyes not leaving Akaashi's.

"Shall we go?" He says again, trying to move from Bokuto's grip. The sun is coming out more and more.

When Akaashi finally manages to turn around, he feels as Bokuto pulls him by his hips again, making him be flush against the other's front. It is now Keiji's turn to become beet red with a blush when Bokuto gets close to his ear, first taking a breath before talking on his naturally deep voice that makes Akaashi see stars.

"Do you have any idea what you do to me?"

He feels as Bokuto lets his arms snake all around his waist, Akaashi trying to let go to first compose himself and then walk to the safety of the house, but Bokuto is not letting go as he starts to leave faint kisses on his neck while taking in his scent.

"B-Bokuto." He tries to say, the other just grunting near his ear. "The sun's out."

He feels as Bokuto looks up and hisses a little when probably looking at the sun directly, knowing him. He feels his spine straighten when he notices his boyfriend's pupils, not wide as if he's turned on, but rather kind of stilted just like an animal. _Did I activate his vampire side? Oh shi-._ Suddenly, Akaashi's feet are off the ground.

Bokuto is carrying him.

_Bokuto is carrying him?!_

Keiji is about to protest when Bokuto suddenly starts to walk, velocity rapidly increasing until it can't be considered human. In a few seconds they are next to Kenma's car, in front of his house.

"Can you put me down, please?" He tries to hide his face on Bokuto's neck so when the other looks down, he won't notice his blush.

"Hm? What did you say?" _Is he really teasing me right now?_

"Bokuto, please. What if my mother sees?"

"She already knows about us, right?" He starts to walk towards the front door, Keiji softly kicking in protest.

"I'm talking about my dignity here."

Bokuto just hums, opening the door easily and softly kicking it shut with a foot. Instead of going to the room they are staying on upstairs, he walks to the living room, where he lets Akaashi down on the sofa and immediately climbs on top of him. Akaashi will _not_ get hard on his sofa. He _REFUSES_.

Of course his mom is their cockblocker for a second time.

He is conflicted whether he should feel saved or cursed by his mother's arrival to the scene.

"You're back from you walk, boys?"

Akaashi turns his head to look as his mother enters the kitchen, a sly smile on her lips. He turns to Bokuto again, who is openly glaring at the woman. Akaashi lifts a knee to make him stop, which is a mistake considering where it ended up grazing. Bokuto does stop glaring though and looks down at him.

_'Are his motherfucking pupils dilated now? Bad timing.'_

Akaashi is about to say something about it to tease the other, when Bokuto sits up with a groan, standing and rapidly walking upstairs with a grumble of 'something-shower'.

He lays limp on the sofa, his blush increasing as he feels heat build up in his stomach. He stands with a groan very similar to Bokuto's, and glares at his mother. She notices and just shrugs while whisking some instant decaffeinated coffee.

"Don't look at me like that. You're the one who was about to sin on my sofa."

"Mother!" He covers his face and falls back down. Staying there until someone else comes down the stairs.

"What happened to Keiji?" Hiro says while walking by. He feels something near and just when opening his eyes, his brother sits down on his stomach lightly. "You okay buddy?"

"Mom cockblocked me for a SECOND time in one fucking week."

"Language Keiji!"

He groans and covers his face at his brother's laugh. "Stop laughing at me."

"I laugh because I've been there, my young padawan."

Keiji pushes him off and sits up, straightening his clothes before standing to walk to the kitchen. "Yeah, but like she has a reason to do it to you."

"And what is that?"

He gets a cup for coffee out. "Premarital children."

His brother pushes him to the side and they immediately start a standing wrestling match, only stopping when their mother walks by. After that they resume until Hiro trips and falls, Keiji immediately pinning him down as Hiro tries to kick him off.

"Your limbs are too long, not fair!"

"You wrestled in high school, didn't you?" Keiji says as he finally manages to pin his brother's arms to the floor.

"That was more than ten years ago!"

"Oh, right. I forget you are old."

"You're so dead." Hiro manages to kick Keiji in the stomach and push him off, taking a pillow from the sofa and starting to repeatedly hit him on the head.

Keiji takes the pillow and throws it away, standing and running away. He zooms to the stairs, where Denise is coming down. She looks startled for a moment as Keiji, being almost one head and a half taller, hides behind her.

"Come back here you overgrown gremlin!" Hiro is about to go up the stairs when he meets with his fiancee. He immediately notices Keiji behind her and raises the pillow. "Move, please."

She crosses her arms. "Are you going to hurt Keiji?"

Hiro hesitates, and the younger of the brothers sees this as an opening and manages to take the pillow from his hands, now he raises it and starts to follow the other around while hitting him the hardest he can. He corners him on a corner of the living room, not letting him go by blocking the way with the big pillow and himself. When he pulls back to try and hit the other again, the pillow slips from his hands and goes flying back. They look at each other and immediately dive for it.

"It's almost 7, what are you even doing awake?!" Hiro yells as they try to take the pillow from the other, both pulling at one of the ends.

"Oh." He lets go of his end, which causes Hiro to fall back hard. Keiji bursts laughing as he passes his mother, panting a little. "If Bokuto asks for me, tell him I'm in the hammock."

He leaves Hiro cussing his way as he steps towards the backdoor. There is a hammock at the very back of the garden, hanging from a thick tree he used to climb up a lot to read on the branches. His father noticed this, so he chose a big, tall branch to hang a hammock on. It's about 10 feet up, the tree itself being almost 20 feet. He used to be a little skeptical about getting on the wide cloth that his mother sew together, but after his father got up and proved that it was safe, he started to go up as well. They used to go there all the time, the hammock being big enough to fit all the family when him and his brother were little. But Keiji stopped going up for obvious reasons.

He finally came up here when graduating high school. He actually did so with his friends, Konoha and Komi, who wanted to go up after years of Keiji not letting them. They all studied for their final exams up there, actually not studying anything since Komi kept on swinging in celebration every time they got one answer right. Now that he thinks about it, Komi and Bokuto are both balls of joy, they could get along very well.

The steps he carved are still there, the tree no longer grows, it just lets leaves come and go. Stepping up in between the branches, he finds that the hammock is actually in a very good state. He gets on and slowly sways a little, rocking himself into a heavy sleep.

He wakes up when there's sun directly hitting his face. He opens his eyes the same moment something moves and gives him shadow. His eyes flutter a little and the first thing he sees is a snowy owl standing on the branch above him.

The bird has white and grey feathers, his eyes are looking at him intently. Akaashi sits up and gets close to the animal's face. _'His eyes are golden.'_

"Bokuto?"

The owl perks up and cocks his head to the side. He jumps down and lands beside Akaashi, losing his balance for a second.

"Hey." He scratches owl-Bokuto's head, him closing his eyes and nuzzling Keiji's side, making him chuckle. "You're so soft. And bigger than I though."

He makes a sound that sounds like soft growl and opens his eyes and wings. Akaashi mimics him confused, just for the owl to jump on his chest and get cozy.

"Oh, now you're going to take a nap?" He makes a small hoot that is way too cute. "Why didn't you come and nap with me in your other form?" Bokuto expands a wing and turns his head to the sky as best as he can. "Sun?" He hoots once. "Wings? You wanted to fly?" He hoots louder, actually sounding happy. "You could have told me that. Does my family know you're gone?" He feels Bokuto's small feet do kicks at his lower chest. "You told them you went for a walk?" Bokuto hoots twice. "Okay."

He proceeds to gently move to the side and hug Bokuto slightly, trying to not disrupt his wings or feathers. He falls asleep without realizing, and when he opens his eyes again, the sun is burning hot and owl Bokuto is gone.

Akaashi looks around when he feels a certain smell, looking down finding its source.

"You awake?" Hiro says loudly where he is making some barbecue, probably Denise wanted some. "Good. Go help mom in the kitchen. I think she is trying and failing on making your boyfriend cook."

Akaashi stretches and immediately stands up when realizing Bokuto is back in his human form. He slowly goes down and jumps the last couple feet, landing on his feet with practice and walking towards the door, not before stealing some chips from his brother.

He opens the door and immediately regrets it when he hears a certain laugh. When turning the corner, he meets two people he hasn't seen in person since graduating. His brother is going to have it bad for not giving him a heads up.

"Who let you two inside my house."

Konoha and Komi are both chatting with none other than Bokuto. All of them have a beer with them as Bokuto peels a carrot, Konoha having a potato in hand and Komi simply sitting on the table. At his remark, all of them turn to him, each with different expressions on their faces.

"It's the man!" Komi yells with his arms extended, almost hitting Konoha in the head.

"The man!" Konoha repeats after him and copies the other's pose, before both yell an "AKAASHI".

_Oh, how he had missed those two._

He walks over while rubbing one of his eyes, and the moment he is within reach, Komi pulls him in and gives him a hug with both short arms and legs.

"Your mom told mine you finally came back since moving in, so we decided to surprise you!"

He gets away from him, Konoha waiting for his turn to get a hug, his being shorter. "We missed you, man."

Akaashi rubs at his neck and looks to the side. "Sorry for not talking to you guys."

"Nah, don't worry. Bokuto here has told us how life in the city has been for ye."

At Komi's words he looks back at them. "He did?"

"Yeah, moving in alone and getting a new job offer as a teacher? Man, you do be living your high school dream."

He glances at Bokuto, who smiles at him, and Akaashi understands that he is letting him tell them about their relationship. He smiles back, turning around while looking for the coffee machine.

"Oh, here." Bokuto turns around and opens the microwave, taking a cup with coffee out. "Guessed you would need one when waking from your nap."

Akaashi smiles and takes the cup that's still warm. "Thanks." He then turns around and leans back as Bokuto goes back to peeling the carrot. "Where's my mom?"

"Went out with Denise before we came." Konoha says as he finishes peeling the potato. He then starts cutting it into pieces slowly.

"We are waiting to congratulate the Akaashi-to-be!" Komi says as he crosses his legs. "Heard you got wasted last night. Was that the reason for the ten hour nap?"

"It wasn't that long." He sips at his coffee as all three men hum sarcastically at the same time, making Keiji roll his eyes. "I'll go take a quick shower. Be right back."

"Oh, Kuroo called you about three hours ago!" He hears Bokuto yell as he goes up the stairs. He yells a 'thanks' back and proceeds to go to his room for clothes. When taking his clothes off, he finds one of Bokuto's feathers stuck at the side of his shirt, somehow falling until now. Akaashi picks it up and puts it next to his phone for the mean time. After taking the shower, he gets dressed and combs his hair as his phone rings for Kuroo.

_"Akaash? Please tell me you're okay."_

At Kuroo's tone he stills. "Yeah I am."

He hears a heavy sigh. _"Thank god."_

"Is there something wrong?"

He hears rustling around and what sounds like Kenma asking about him. _"Yes. It's him and he's alright."_ More mumbling. _"Kenma says hi."_

"Hi to him too." Akaashi steps out of the bathroom and goes to his room. He notices his and Bokuto's clothes all over, apparently his mom hasn't done laundry, so he picks it up with the phone pressed between his shoulder and ear. "Could you please tell me why you were both so worried?"

_"We found him."_

Akaashi doesn't need to ask to know who the other is talking about.

_"And he is outside the city."_

"He's looking for me?"

_"Yaku, a witchy friend of mine, told me that he saw Daishou on the north country side. You didn't take your crystals with you, did you?"_

"Just the amethyst." He looks down at the jewel that never leaves his wrist. "I remembered about the rest when we were already here."

Kuroo sighs. _"I'll try to throw him off with a spell, but either way, I don't know if its safe for you two to stay there until tomorrow."_

Akaashi walks to the hallway, hearing his friends' laughter in the kitchen. "Some of my high school friends came without telling me. So I think we will either go home later tonight or tomorrow morning."

_"Shit."_ He hears as Kuroo lets his phone down, and when he talks there's echo, now on speaker. _"I'll try my best with the spell, but he is stronger now and I don't know how effective it will be. I'll ask Yaku to do one as well."_ Some rustling and clicking of bottles. _"Pay close attention to Bokuto. I already alerted him this morning and he went for a flight to check the perimeter. He says he can't feel Daishou close."_ So that's the real reason Bokuto went for a flight and watched over him why he slept.

"Why pay attention to him, though?"

_"He becomes more, um, possessive when his instincts tell him there's a threat near. He does it without realizing. When Daishou is close enough, or uses his magic, Bokuto can sense him and will try to bring you guys back as fast as he can. If he's too close, a friend of mine has a guarded house there and he will take you both in. But please if you can, come home and we will help with Kenma."_

Akaashi takes a deep breath before passing a hand through his wet hair. "I'll tell you if anything happens."

_"If there's no time to call me, or not enough signal, just text me your location. That's how we do it."_ He hears Kenma say something in the background and Kuroo sighs again, sounding way too tired. _"Please be careful. both of you."_

"We will. Thank you, Kuroo."

They say their farewells and hang up the phone, Akaashi downing his now cold coffee and going to the sink to splash some water on his face before going down. The moment he takes the last step, there's a carrot thrown his way.

"What the-" He turns to find Komi and Bokuto with carrot slices on their hands, an undone salad on the table as Konoha has a phone in hand. "What are you all doing?"

"Bokuto didn't believe I can catch everything that's thrown my way. So I proved it to him."

Akaashi leans down to pick up the carrot that almost hit him. "What's this, then?"

"He threw that at me!" Bokuto says, sweating on his loose muscle shirt even if the atmosphere is chilly. Akaashi walks in their direction and gestures over, both men giving him the carrots.

"It's been a while since Akaashi silently scolded you." Konoha says with a smirk, putting the phone in Komi's face. The later makes a face at the camera and flips it off, Konoha kicking him from where he is now sat as he ends the video.

Akaashi points to a knife. "Pass that over, please." Konoha gives it to him as he goes to the fridge for another can of beer. "Did you two bring your own beer?"

"Obviously." Konoha says. "Want one?"

"No thanks. I'll be driving us back later today."

"Weren't you going back tomorrow morning?" Komi says as he makes a 'give me' hand gesture at Konoha, who passes him a can.

"Sun's too bright in the morning for Bokuto." He simply says while cutting the carrots in smaller pieces.

"Oh, you albino, right?" Komi asks and gets a nod as answer. "Cool! You know, we played with a guy in high school who I think also had albinism. What was his name?"

"Onae." "Aone." Konoha and Akaashi say at the same time, Bokuto perking a little at the name as if he recognizes it. "That shit." Konoha corrects himself as takes a carrot from Akaashi.

When he's done, Akaashi turns around and notices some sausages on the counter. He picks them up and turns to Bokuto. "Please take this to Hiro. Oh, also ask him where the green sauce Denise uses for her salad is."

"Sure!" Bokuto takes the package and is about to step out when Akaashi stops him by his shirt, pulling him back.

"You have sunscreen on?" Bokuto thinks about it for a second and nods with a smile. Akaashi looks out the window and then to the counter, taking Bokuto's cap from yesterday and putting it on his head, slicking his gel-less hair back with his hand first. "Don't stay out long, please."

Bokuto smiles brighter, his eyes shining. "Okay." He says softly before pulling him in with to peck his forehead, going out the backdoor after.

He turns back around to start adding the carrots to the salad bowl when suddenly finds a tan hand over his, stopping his actions, and looks up to find both his friends with shocked expressions.

"What?"

Komi says something that is the representation of a verbal keyboard smash before speaking. "You two are going out?!"

Akaashi looks to where Komi is pointing at the door and then looks back at him. "Yes?"

Konoha takes him by a shoulder and shakes him. "And you didn't tell us?!"

"I thought Bokuto told you when I was asleep. That's the reason he is here, after all." _Oh Keiji, don't lie to your shocked friends to simply play with his feelings._

"Well, he didn't because that's your job! As our friend!" Komi takes his other shoulder and both his friends shake him. "I think we both had our suspicions, but dude! You have a boyfriend!"

"I feel genuinely hurt he didn't reach us for approval." Konoha says as he eats another carrot from the bowl, Akaashi slapping his hand away when he reaches for another.

"We have been dating for about three weeks and my mom found out yesterday. So stop complaining." He openly says, making both his friends relax a little at the lame excuse just as Bokuto comes back inside.

"Hiro says your mom will bring more sauce because Denise ate it all." He stops while taking the cap off, looking at the three men. "Something on my face?"

"Nah, handsome man." Komi says, trying to take a carrot from the bowl and getting away with a slap like Konoha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song by The Beatles!!!
> 
> Make sure to check out Suguru's [Tumblr blog](https://suguru.tumblr.com/), and if you want to chat here's [mine!](https://is-a-bell-tmblr.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Here's the link to the fic's [playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4YAnv5HBcFCg6Uf5CSeHUM)


	12. Poet or sinner

Akaashi feels like he is inside one of those crossover episodes they do on TV.

Currently in his backyard there are his two high school best friends, his brother and mother, his brother's fiancee, and his boyfriend. It feels like three worlds colliding.

They are all sitting under the shade on the tall tree where his hammock is, Bokuto having an extra umbrella over his head. They sit around a wooden table from inside the house, all around it on plastic chairs that are almost falling apart from the amount of time they have just being laying inside the small shed. They are all just waiting for someone to fall over from a broken chair leg.

"You fell from that high?!" Bokuto points up at the hammock as Konoha tells the story of how Akaashi kicked him by joke and made him fall off the tree.

"Got away with a broken arm and three fractured ribs." He says while patting his side as if he feels sorry for it. Akaashi kicks his shin from under the table. "Stop kicking me or I will fall again!"

He chuckles while laying back with his coke can, feeling as Bokuto puts an arm behind his chair and lays as close as he possibly can.

_'Pay close attention to Bokuto'_. He recalls Kuroo's advice and turns to the man at his side, not noticing a thing out of the ordinary.

"Hey Kaashi." He turns to Komi, who sits in front of him, next to Konoha and Denise. "Why don't you tell us how you met Bokuto!"

"Oh yeah! I tried to bring out the story from him earlier, but couldn't." Hiro says from where he is cutting up some meat, him being one of the only ones with any food left.

"He's my neighbor, so it was obvious that we would meet." He says while straightening his back to try and bump Bokuto's arm for backup. _'Do I tell them about when he ran into me that first time or when I found him with freaking blood all over at four AM?'_

"Oh come one man!" Konoha throws a small piece of something from the table at his face. "Tell us the place! Time! The setting and dialog!"

Keiji snorts as he glances at Bokuto, who looks a little frazzled as well.

"We ran into each other one night when I was coming back from work and he was going out in a rush." He leans forward to put his can back on the table. "After that we just kept bumping into each other since we live right next to the other."

"You're not fun." Konoha says as he throws him another thing to the face again, crumbs of bread apparently. Keiji glares his way and throws his napkin, which doesn't go far and makes some of them laugh.

"Then why don't you tell us, big man." Denise says to Bokuto, who he notices flinches slightly at his side.

"That's actually it! I asked for his number one day and we just talked and hung out." He jumps and a huge smile covers his features. "Actually, let me tell you all about this one time I caught Kaashi talking to a bee in his balcony."

Keiji groans as Bokuto starts to tell the story, which is not actually a big deal, but he makes it sound interesting with his loud voice and expressions. Even he finds himself laughing when Bokuto starts to mock his voice as he spoke to the small insect.

As Bokuto is finishing the story, revealing the bee was actually dead and not just resting as Akaashi had first thought, laughter exploded in the table and Keiji decides to go to the kitchen for another coke as the rest of people in the backyard laugh and make fun of him in a warm way that makes him smile. He actually needed this, now that he thinks about it. Just relax from the growing problems back in the city.

When throwing the can in the trashcan, a long goosebump goes through his back. He looks around to try and spot any open windows, even walking to the living room to check them all. His hands drop from playing with each other when a familiar feeling embraces him, a voice he has never heard before but feels oh so close whispering in his ear.

_"Come with me, Keiji."_

Akaashi turns around as if the person is behind him, but finds the space empty. His breath gets heavy and the sensation of his chest closing in itself makes him lose balance, grabbing the back of the sofa for support. The feeling just keeps on growing, but when he tries to step towards the kitchen to call for Bokuto, it lessens. He turns to the front door with rapid breathing, with a step in that direction he finds that he can breathe better with each small movement towards it.

_"Keiji."_

The voice sounds way clearer now, no longer a whisper but still like a whisper and calling him. The moment he opens the door, there's an overwhelming feeling that makes his knees buckle. He falls knees first, his hands catching the rest of his body from completely falling to the floor. Akaashi moves back, grabbing the doorknob and managing to stand up while clutching his chest with a pained expression. He looks up, noticing at the distance, right next to the tree from that morning, there's a silhouette from a man standing in place.

He doesn't have to look closer to know who it is.

Akaashi closes the door and immediately walks towards the back of the house, even if it physically pains him to do so. Just as he is about to enter the kitchen, Bokuto appears. Saying he's wild does not make justice to how mad he looks at the moment.

His expression is firm, with his eyebrows in a frown and lips tightly shut in determination. His pupils are now animal-like slits, but even that way Akaashi can read the worry over them. Bokuto turns to him and catches him in his arms before he falls, immediately cupping his face with one hand and checking his face.

"That son of a bitch." Bokuto's voice is deep as he looks up to the door Akaashi had just been standing by. In Daishou's direction. "We need to go. Now."

"I'll go pack our stuff, t-tell my family-"

"Hiro!" Bokuto interrupts him with a yell towards the back, afterwards turning to his face. "We'll tell him its heatstroke."

"That's not an enough excuse to go back home." Akaashi clutches at his chest as Bokuto turns to the front door. "What is it?"

Bokuto looks confused as he frowns, clutching Akaashi's arm. "He's leaving."

Akaashi turns to look at the door as well, about to tell Bokuto how he could see the man in the distance, but Hiro enters the kitchen in a rush.

"What is i- Keiji?!" He takes huge steps to his brother, who moves around Bokuto to look at his face directly. "You're so pale, fuck. What happened?" He looks down at his chest where Akaashi's is clutching at his shirt and then up at his face again. "Does anything hurt?"

Akaashi is not paying much attention to him, more at the way Bokuto glares at the direction of the door in a defensive stand. "I think its heatstroke." He manages to mutter. He shakes his head slightly when there's another pang of pain in his chest, which is surprisingly going low but still hurts. _'Is Daishou really leaving?'_

"Are you sure?" Hiro puts a hand to his forehead, frowning afterwards. "You're stone cold."

Keiji is about to talk back when his mother comes in. "What's happening here?"

"I just feel a little sick." Keiji manages to mutter loud enough as his mother crowds him even more. "Hiro, could you pass me my coke?" He gestures at the other side of the counter, both his mother and Hiro going for it. Keiji takes the opportunity and takes Bokuto's hand, tugging at it. "Go."

The man turns to look at him, and Akaashi stares into his eyes as they become normal again. "What? No, I-"

"Check that he's fully gone. I can still feel him." He finally lets go of his chest and takes a deep breath. Bokuto stares at his face for a moment before looking back to the door. And in the blink of an eye he is gone.

"Here." His mother guides him to sit and gives him the can of coke. "You look very pale. I sent Hiro upstairs to bring you some medicine for your headache."

Akaashi hadn't even noticed he had a headache. But he has one, indeed.

"Thanks." He lets his head down for a second as his mother tell him something about bringing him something to eat from outside, but he can't concentrate with a new but extremely familiar pressure with the name of anxiety.

_'Is Bokuto okay?' ' Did he find Daishou?' ' How far did he go?' 'What did Daishou do to make the feeling from the train be physically painful?' 'Is Bokuto getting hurt by the sun?' 'What if Bokuto found Daishou and he is stronger.' 'Oh god, what if Bokuto found him.'_

__

__

"Keiji!"

He looks up from his hands, which were pressing into his skull unconsciously. He finds Konoha and Komi, both flushed from the sun outside.

"Yeah?" He tries to keep his face neutral, but he knows he cannot hide a thing from these two men.

"When was the last time you got exposed to the sun to get heatstroke at this temperature?" Konoha sits on the stool next to him, leaning on the table to look the other in the face.

"Remember when he fainted at a match mid winter?" Komi jumps on the table next to him, swinging his short legs under him.

"I got dehydrated that time." He tries to defend himself, knowing he is well sure its impossible to run from their teasing, even if they are doing it to cheer him up.

"Water!" They both say at the same time, making a gesture with their hands as if they are drinking from a bottle. Its been a long time since they brought that story up and did that.

Akaashi lets him head drop to Komi's thigh, letting a huge breath out in relief. _Wait._ His chest doesn't hurt anymore, and he can breathe normally.

_'Does that mean Bokuto found the siren?'_

His thought gets interrupted by the ringing of his phone. He takes it out of his pocket and sees the ID signalling that Kuroo is calling him. Before he can answer, Komi takes the phone from his hand and brings it to his ear.

"Hello?"

Konoha hides his laughter behind his hand as Komi listens to something Kuroo is saying.

"No sir, this is Komi." He frowns and looks to Akaashi. "Yes that's my name. Hey! Don't laugh! What's your name, then?" There's a pause and he smiles. "Kuroo, huh? They are similar so stop laughing." A pause. "Yes they are!"

"Give me my phone." Akaashi just extends his hand and waits. Komi looks at him and then behind him. Suddenly there's a pill on Akaashi's hand.

"You feeling better?" Hiro steps from behind as Keiji nods. Hiro stays looking at him before going outside with a worried expression.

"Oh! Really? Well, maybe if someone invited me over, we could have met before, young man!" Komi says as he lays back on his free hand. Keiji groans and tries to reach for his phone. When he is unsuccessful since he feels a strain on his body, Konoha sighs from beside him and grabs the phone to give it to him.

"Hey! I was talking to my new friend!"

"Shut up." Konoha says as he rests his head on a hand.

Keiji gives them a look to shut them up and puts the phone to his ear. "Hey Kuroo." His voice is low and a little raspy, now that he tries to talk more. He drinks the pill his brother gave him with the coke, coughing a little afterwards as Kuroo rambles.

_"The fucking fuck fucked up my fucking spell! He had one in advance and when I was about to call you, Yaku told me Daishou had gone off the fucking radar and now Kenma is freaking the fuck out and I don't know what to fucking do."_

"You done?" Akaashi sighs and looks towards the door.

_"Yes. Sorry. Its just so frustrating to get spells blocked."_ He sighs and there is rustling around before he speaks. _"Are you okay?"_

"Yeah." He tries to stand up to take the conversation elsewhere but gets stopped by Komi's legs when he wobbles in place.

"You're not getting far if you stand up." Konoha says as he helps him get on the tall stool.

_"Akaashi?"_ Kuroo says from the other side of the phone, sounding a little nervous for some reason.

"I'm here." He sighs as Komi moves and sit in front of him, keeping him in place with his legs. Keiji just glares at him. "I'm with some friends. Sorry for Komi."

Kuroo laughs lightly. _"Don't worry about it."_ Akaashi can tell that the next time he talks, his voice is more serious and quiet to not be overheard. _"Did he get close?"_

"Yes. I saw him." Komi and Konoha send him weird looks, Akaashi just shrugging them off. "I just got a headache and felt dizzy."

Kuroo stays silent for some seconds. _"Can't explain more because of people in the room?"_ Keiji hums in affirmation. _"I'll ask yes or no questions then. Did it feel stronger than before?"_

"Yes. A lot more."

_"Was he closer than on the train?"_

"No. But it felt like it." Konoha stands to wash an apple, starting to cut it in pieces as Komi still doesn't let him stand up.

_"Did you feel physical pain? Like hurting chest or limbs."_

"I got heatstroke. My head still hurts a little but it was pounding earlier, as well as my chest. I think I freaked out, because I couldn't breathe until Bokuto calmed me down."

Kuroo actually laughs at that. _"Is that what your told them? Those would be more heart attack symptoms than heatstroke! Either way, he shouldn't feel that strong."_ Kuroo groans in frustration but stops midway. _"Where's Bokuto?"_

"Went out to bring something from the car, but he's not back." Akaashi keeps his eyes on Konoha as he walks around the kitchen, trying to find something spicy for his apple, the same way he used to eat it when they were teenagers.

_"He went after Daishou?! Shit, shit, shit, SHIT."_ He can hear Kuroo running around, steps sounding in the distance as he stomps over his apartment.

Akaashi frowns at that. "Why are you so worked up about it?"

_"With Kenma we have the theory that Daishou wants to get to you through Bokuto, or get to Bokuto through you. We are not sure, though, since he hasn't come in contact with you both. Until now, at least."_ He hears as a door closes and a car engine sounds in the background.

"What are you doing?"

_"Going to you both."_ There is a yell of something in the background, he hears Kuroo yell 'Kenma' and then there's a door closing again. _"Akaashi?"_

Kenma's voice is extremely calm, compared to Kuroo's, he finds it calming. "Hi Kenma."

"A new friend!" Komi is about to snatch his phone again when Konoha reaches over the table to grab at his shoulders and bring him down.

"Stop interrupting, jackass." He says before going back to seasoning his apple with a bottle of sriracha.

_"Akaashi, Bokuto is still looking for Daishou. I need you to call him because he is not answering me."_

"He didn't find him?"

"Find who?" Komi sits up again just to be pulled down by Konoha again.

_"No. Daishou has an implant he doesn't know about so that I can track him. Bokuto has the same, but he knows about it since its in a bracelet."_ Akaashi hears some typing in the distance. _"Bokuto is still going, Daishou has gone back north but his location is glitching. Kuroo's friend will try to capture him, but you have to get Bokuto back before he goes too far."_

"So he is away and I need to call Bokuto."

"Who are you talking to?" Komi sits up, Konoha tries to pull him back again but Komi moves forward. Akaashi moves to the side and the man falls of the table.

"You deserve it." Konoha says as he starts to eat his apple, which is almost completely red from the amount of weird hot sauces he put in it. Such weird taste his friend has.

_"Call him and get him to you."_ Kuroo says, he is probably now on speaker. _"Don't hang up the phone with him until he is back home with you. And don't go out to look for him, you'll just make yourself vulnerable for Daishou."_

"Okay. I'll call him now then."

_"Text me when he's with you."_ Kenma says worriedly. Akaashi tells him he will do so and hangs up, immediately putting his phone back to his ear after pressing Bokuto's contact.

The phone rings as Komi stands up from where he was laying on the floor to run after Konoha around the kitchen, the other, being taller than all of them, barely running as his long legs carry him around the place. Akaashi looks towards the door again, aching to go outside now to find his partner. Just as he is about to stand up and go to the door, it opens and Bokuto appears there. His cheeks are extremely red and his arms, which are completely exposed from his sleeveless shirt, are almost sizzling. He pants as if he just came from a run, but Akaashi notices the edge from his fangs in between his lips, eyes and hair as wild as ever. _'He probably just transformed back.'_

Komi and Konoha are running through the living room, thankfully not noticing the man who just entered the scene. Akaashi stands up and runs to him, giving him a hug. Bokuto takes a deep breath and immediately hugs him close from the waist, his breathing ceasing its rapid pattern. Akaashi steps back and looks at his arms as Konoha laughs at Komi somewhere in the house, the other yelling as the stomping continues. There are some blisters forming on the outer side of his arms, Keiji frowns at that as he looks at the other's face, slowly lifting a hand to touch it. His cheeks, nose and forehead are extremely red.

"I'm so sorry. Shouldn't have told you to go out." Akaashi slowly lets his hand trace the side of Bokuto's face, his touch a feather on the other's irritated skin.

Bokuto smiles and turns his face, giving Keiji's hand a kiss, even if afterwards he winces and moves his face away from the pain. He takes his hand and intertwines their fingers.

"Hey, you're back!" Konoha says just before Komi tackles him, dropping the empty bowl from the apples on the floor. "WHAT THE FUCK MAN"

"WHY WOULD YOU SUDDENLY STOP WHEN I WAS CHASING YOU!"

Akaashi just looks at them both fight and says "I'm taking Bokuto upstairs." Both yell an 'okay' almost at the same time and keep on arguing. Keiji starts his walk towards the stairs.

"You're going to let them fight?" Bokuto asks quietly from behind him when they finish getting up, the other two still yelling downstairs.

"They always argue about nonsense, so I just let them say what they want and figure it out." Akaashi gets to the bathroom and drops Bokuto's hand to go to the tub, starting to fill it with cold water. He turns around and meets a confused Bokuto.

"Kuroo gave me your stuff because apparently he knew you would get sunburned." He steps around the other man and stops by the door. "Oh, Kuroo and Kenma are on their way. So I guess we will stay here a little longer."

He is about to go out when Bokuto grabs his wrist and pulls him back. He looks up to find his eyes filled with worry. "You're okay, right?"

"Yes, Bokuto." Akaashi passes a hand through the other's hair and pulls him down for a kiss that ends in a second. "I just got startled. Help's in the way, so please relax."

Bokuto still looks extremely worried and on edge. He opens his mouth to speak but a yell from downstairs makes them both turn to the source.

"Hey guys! We have to leave so that Komi doesn't get killed by his mom." Konoha says from the bottom of the stairs, a smack on skin following with a shriek of pain. "Fuck off man! We'll be going guys. But give us a call someday!"

"I think I'm going to the city for an interview next week! I'll force 'Noha to tag along if I end up going!" Then they say goodbye and there are steps, the front door then closing.

Akaashi looks in the direction of the previous voices, turning to his room afterwards. He rummages on his luggage until he finds the bag Kuroo gave him. _Is this expensive?_

"Bokuto," he calls, the other humming from the bathroom. Akaashi frowns a little at that. He can tell Bokuto is starting to feel down as he sometimes does, but he is not sure whether it is because they got in danger or because he didn't catch the siren. "Is my phone in there?"

"Yeah." Oh, he is certainly in his down mode. Kuroo calls it 'emo mode', but Akaashi understands that's not it. He walks over with the bag and some spare clothes in hand, finding Bokuto sitting shirtless on the toilet while playing with the growing level of water. Akaashi walks over and leaves the bag and clothes next to the sink. He slowly lays a hand on Bokuto's back, finding it is also red at the top. His shoulders are not as red as his arms, but it still looks like an aching sunburn. He lets his hand move through his back slowly, from one side to the other and then up and down.

"I tried to turn into my owl form but still got burned."

Bokuto sounds tired, but most importantly he sounds disappointed, as if he is not only hurt by the sun he received but also deeply affected by the fact that he even got hurt, and that he didn't succeed on what he wanted to do.

Akaashi walks around to turn off the flowing water, then kneeling in front of Bokuto and looking into his eyes, which the other avoids. Akaashi lets his hands rest on Bokuto's thighs, moving up and down in calming motions. He keeps on doing that until Bokuto unclenches his jaw and relaxes his shoulders, leaning forward until he lets their foreheads touch with a wince.

"I'm okay." Akaashi says as he closes his eyes and takes a shaky breath. "It was a close call, we both got scared, but we are okay, Bokuto. Kuroo and Kenma are on their way to help us get back home safely."

He opens his eyes to find Bokuto staring at his face. The older man takes a big breath in and shakes his head.

Bokuto takes his hands and clutches them tight, pulling them to his lips to leave a kiss on the place where his fingers meet. "I can't let anything happen to you. I promise I won't let him get that close ever again."

Akaashi leans over and gives him a soft kiss, being careful with his irritated face and arms. "We'll be alright."

"We'll be alright." Bokuto repeats after him, sitting a little straighter as Akaashi walks to retrieve the bag from earlier, which is full of natural remedies, some magically altered by Kuroo to work faster on the vampire's skin. There is aloe vera and honey soap, as well as a homemade calendula bathbomb and vanilla milk shampoo.

"Kuroo could have a beauty product company with all these." Akaashi says as he takes them out, making Bokuto finally smile.

"What do you think I do in my spare time?"

Akaashi walks towards the bathtub and sits on the edge to put the bathbomb in without splashing, moving the water around with a hand. "You help him with these?"

"I was the one who realized they are better for my skin! I used to just buy stuff that had these things, but since meeting Kuroo we managed to make our own and now some of our products are in pharmacies and stuff!"

"I didn't know that." Akaashi says amazed, and relieved that he now knows what to say when people ask him about Bokuto's work. There's a knock on the door and they both turn to the source.

"Everything alright?" His mom says, gasping when taking a closer look at Bokuto. "Oh dear, did you go out for too long?"

Bokuto tries to rub at his neck but hisses when meeting the burnt skin, taking his hand back. "Yeah, tried to help Akaashi with something and kinda forgot how strong the sun is today."

His mom clicks her tongue. "Neither of you have had a great evening, I see. Are you feeling better Keiji?" He nods. She stays silent for a while, but her frown goes away a little when looking around, noticing the bag of stuff. "Oh, you already have things for your burns?" He nods and she smiles cheekily. "I'll leave you two to it, then. I'll be outside with Denise and Hiro. Such a shame your friends had to go early, though."

"It's fine."

She smiles and closes the door a little while saying "If you need anything else, just take it and tell me later."

"Okay mom, thanks."

"Thank you, ma'am!" Bokuto says in English as she fully closes the door. Akaashi can feel a blush surface at that, _'did she think I'm helping Bokuto take a bath?'_

He stands up when the water is all cold and ready. With a towel in hand to dry them, he is about to walk to the door when Bokuto stops him with a hand on his hip.

"Could you, um... Akaashi, could you stay with me? Please?" He looks up to meet his eyes but immediately looks away when they make eye contact. "I don't plan on getting you out of my sight until I know we're totally safe from that creep."

Keiji can't help the smile that covers his features as he looks down at his boyfriend, his charismatic and overconfident looking boyfriend that right now looks like a puppy begging for more play time. He nods his head, at which Bokuto smiles at him and stands up to finish undressing. He keeps his boxers, and in a flash he is inside the bathtub.

Akaashi sits on the toilet lid, looking as Bokuto slowly dips his burnt arms into the water, which has an orange tint to it from the flowers the bathbomb is made of. Bokuto leans over and splashes some on his face, passing his hands through his hair to slick it back. Akaashi stares as the other just sits there, getting water over the parts of his body that are not underwater, since he is quite large and the tub is not one of the biggest out there, the water barely reaches his top abdomen. Akaashi has the perfect view of his pecs, toned arms and back, but he can't let himself enjoy it when he knows Bokuto is actually in pain, one that is more durable than the one Akaashi felt earlier.

When Bokuto struggles to reach his back, Keiji stands and kneels near that part of the bathroom to cup his hands and let the water slowly fall on the now more red skin from the cold water.

"How can you bare this temperature?" He asks, to which Bokuto laughs.

"Used to it. There were not many affordable heaters before, so." He says while leaning a bit more forward, letting more water fall over his shoulders and neck. When Akaashi sees that the other is completely wet, he reaches over for the soap and pours some on his hand, slowly massaging Bokuto's back.

"Turn your back towards me so I can reach your left shoulder, Bokuto." The other obeys, turning in the water and letting Akaashi softly massage the skin. He is avoiding the places in which the skin looks and feels more irritated, on those places he passes his fingertips as slowly as he can, stopping his touch when Bokuto flinches or even slightly moves. He lets his hands start to go down Bokuto's arms, the bulky man deciding to turn around so they are face to face and that way Keiji can let his hands go freely up his shoulders and down to his wrists. The worst burns are on the forearms, where there are some small blisters forming and a rash over his wrists and hands. On those places he barely dare pass his hands, letting the soap run down..

"You're so gentle with me." Bokuto says softly, making Akaashi look up at him with a slight blush that the other smiles at. "You're the first person to treat me this way, like if I'm a kitten or something."

Keiji lets a giggle escape at the comparison, trying to cover his face with a hand. Bokuto tries to stop him and accidentally splashes his shirt and pants.

"Oh, sorry!"

"It was bound to happen." The raven says as he cleans the soap on his hands on the shirt before taking it off, not wanting cold, wet clothes sticking to his skin. He looks over at the door from where he is sitting, then back to Bokuto, before standing and taking his pants off, both of them on their underwear now. "Move over." He says while stepping into the cold water. "Sweet mother Jesus, how can you get into this so easily."

Bokuto laughs at that, now at full volume. "Come on! It's not that bad once you get used to it."

Akaashi slowly goes down, avoiding touching Bokuto to not disturb his burns. "Holy fuck."

"I have never heard you swear so much!" His partner says with a laugh, to which Akaashi responds with a glare. "You don't have to get in, you could get sick."

Akaashi just shrugs as he manages to sit down, taking a deep breath as he leans on the wall behind him. Bokuto laughs again, splashing some water in his direction. Akaashi opens an eye and splashes him back. They do that back and forth for a while, until the floor is all wet and they need to refill the bathtub. Bokuto lets some hot water come down to make Akaashi 'more comfortable', even if its not good for his burns, and also to bathe him properly because 'you stink of him, Kaashi. I don't like it'.

"Come here." Akaashi takes the shampoo bottle and kneels between the other's legs, reaching up to his head and slowly starting to thread his fingers through the dark grey and white locks. "Have you ever dyed you hair a random color?"

Bokuto opens an eye to look up at him. "I did try. But blue owls are not very realistic, so I had to take the dye out." He proceeds to tell a story about how he made it to the news in 2002 when 'a blue owl was spotted flying through Tokyo' and an animal refugee center tried to get a hold of him for months. Akaashi silently listens to him while taking the shampoo off his head, and when he looks down to grab some water away from most of the bubbles, he finds that Bokuto's blisters are almost gone, the skin now a more pinkish color rather than red.

The man notices where his gaze is and looks down as well. "Kuroo did a good job with the soap, huh?"

"I have to admit, that's amazing." Akaashi looks up and is met with Bokuto's head. He takes a deep breath and notices the vanilla in the air. Bokuto must be very observant today, as he reaches for the bottle and pours some on his hands.

"Hey, turn around."

Akaashi feels himself blush more than he already is, turning around in place. The second he settles, he feels fingers on his hair. They are delicate while detangling his short curls, massaging the top of his scalp and behind his ears. He lets himself relax so much that he doesn't notice that he started to slide back until Bokuto's chest is against his back. Bokuto continues to massage him, even if almost all of the shampoo is gone now.

"Hey, Akaashi." He hums and turns his head a little, but with his eyes closed he can't help how relaxed he feels, the headache from earlier completely going away. "Can I ask you something?"

"You don't need to ask for permission, you know that, Bokuto."

"Yeah, yeah, sorry." Akaashi feels as the other's hand's go around his waist underwater, pulling him close until Bokuto's lips are next to his ear as he speaks in a soft, innocent voice that don't go along with the physical gesture. "Can I call you Keiji?"

The younger man moves his head a little to try and look Bokuto in the eye, but he can't so he just lays back completely and lets his head fall against Bokuto's shoulder. "If you want to."

He can literally feel his smile. "Really? You're okay with it?"

"Sure." Akaashi finally manages to look up and meet the other's eyes. "You make me happy, so if calling me by my given name makes _you_ happy, then go ahead."

Bokuto kisses the side of his face, pulling him in closer for a hug, his face nuzzling the other's neck. "Don't say that!"

"Why not? It's the truth."

"Yeah, but like, don't play with my heart that way, sunshine."

"Oh, I thought you were going to call me Keiji now?"

"You little-" Bokuto splashes water from the other, much colder, side of the bathtub with his foot. Akaashi gasping as he tries to get away from Bokuto tickling his middle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name of the chapter is a song by Catman Cohen!!!
> 
> Make sure to check out Suguru's [Tumblr blog](https://suguru.tumblr.com/), and if you want to chat here's [mine!](https://is-a-bell-tmblr.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Here's the link to the fic's [playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4YAnv5HBcFCg6Uf5CSeHUM)


	13. Ain't no sunshine

"I though I told you to text me when you found him!" Kuroo says from the driveway. The sun is about to go down as Kenma and Kuroo get off the car, much smaller than Kenma's van. Bokuto is inside the house, distracting the rest of people inside by saying a very warm goodbye. Akaashi just looks out with his arms crossed, not amused as Kuroo keeps on scolding him for not giving them updates in the situation.

"Kuroo." Kenma says from where he is looking down at his phone, now that both have reached the door Akaashi realizes that he is playing something with knights and a dragon. "Let him be."

The tall man makes an strangled sound before gesturing to Akaashi. "Their lives were in danger! And you couldn't text me back?!" He points accusingly at Akaashi. He jut swats his hand away and gestures them inside.

"Do you want something to eat or drink before we go?"

Both say no while taking their shoes off by the entrance. Akaashi doesn't bother asking again, looking towards the living room to the side where all his family are standing saying their goodbyes as if they will never see Bokuto again. His mother is hugging him close, when she releases him she starts saying something really low, Bokuto tensing for a second before nodding.

"Your mother?" Kuroo says behind him. Both him and Kenma look at the warm scene, thankfully none of them being noticed.

"Yeah. Could you help me with some boxes? I'm taking some stuff from here to my apartment."

"Sure." He says, the three of them walking upstairs to Keiji's room. Inside are two medium sized boxes and their luggage. Kuroo and Akaashi both take a box, Kenma letting his phone down to help with the rest. When going down the stairs, Akaashi leading the way, they encounter Hiro about to go inside the bathroom on the first floor.

"Oh! Hi there! Friends of yours?"

Akaashi nods and keeps on going down. Kuroo stops and bows his head as much as he can while balancing the box on his arms. "Sorry for coming in just like that. We're making a trip and Akaashi let us rest for a few minutes here, so we decided to help before he goes back."

"Don't worry about it!" Kuroo follows Akaashi with the box, then's when Hiro notices Kenma behind them. "Kenma, right?" The small man startles for a second when he is noticed, but then he nods his head and gives Hiro a small smile before going after the others. Keiji is glad his brother didn't ask more questions, and that Kuroo managed to handle the situation with that small lie.

Back in the car, they are putting everything inside the trunk when there's a sound by the other side of the road, between some trees. Kenma literally jumps and hides behind Kuroo, who just turns in the direction of the mysterious sound and stays on guard.

"It's probably some stray animal." Akaashi says, but Kuroo shushes him hard, gesturing with a hand so that he stays still. Akaashi is about to ask what's wrong, when he spots a soft glow from in between. "What is that?"

"Kenma, take Akaashi inside and call Bokuto." Kuroo reaches for something in his pocket, bringing out a dagger. With a shake of his wrist, the dagger changes form with a soft red glow, transforming into a red and black katana.

"Kuroo, what-" Akaashi tries to interrupt, but Kuroo drinks something from his pocket and throws the small recipient to the floor. When he turns to Keiji again, his eyes are like back then, just as a cat.

"Go!" Kuroo yells, Kenma tugs at Akaashi's arm with a force he wasn't expecting. He lets himself be pulled, and when they are about to go inside, the atmosphere more dark with the sun setting, he notices that there are two foxes coming out of the bushes, one yellowish and the other grey. They are bigger than normal foxes, and just as Kenma manages to pull him completely inside, he realizes the reason why. Both animals are now glowing just as Terushima did when they met. There are two human silhouettes forming. Kenma closes the door before he can see their human form.

"Go call Bokuto, I'll keep an eye on Kuroo from here."

Kenma sounds a little more forward than he usually does, obviously given the dangerous circumstances. Keiji enters the living room the same moment Bokuto excuses himself, both bumping into each other.

"Who's out there? I can feel Kuroo's magic." Bokuto says in a low voice, completely covering Akaashi from his family. He brings a hand up to cup his chin as he frowns. "Hey hey, calm down, Keiji. Breathe with me."

Akaashi hadn't noticed that his breathing increased in velocity, the panic probably showing on his face. He takes some deep breaths, following the ones Bokuto takes. He takes his hand and moves towards where Kenma is hiding behind a wall to look out of a window near the front door. There's a sound from outside, and then a groan that neither recognize.

"Two shifters outside. Go." Kenma says from the window, a frown on his face as he tries to do something on his phone and keep on looking out at the same time.

Bokuto groans, straightening as there is more sound outside. Akaashi glances at him, and realizes his eyes are like when Daishou was outside, now with a glow that is almost dark from the fierceness and madness behind his glare. The vampire opens the door and walks out rapidly. Kenma closes the door just as Akaashi is about to step out.

"Go say goodbye to your family. We'll go in one car and leave the other to them. He is near." Kenma looks out the window, extremely on edge. Akaashi looks over his shoulder when he passes by, realizing he is looking at a map on his phone. There are three dots, one blue, one yellow, one green. The green is rapidly moving from north. _'Is that Daishou?'_

Akaashi walks around the corner, where Hiro is giving his mother and Denise a glass of wine. "Hey man! You ready to go?"

He nods, trying to look calm. Of course it doesn't work on his mother. "Are you okay, honey? You look a little shaken." She stands up and walks towards him. He just stays in place and lets her look at his face.

"I'm okay, just tired." He hugs his mother close. _'Will I see her again?'_ "I'll text you when we get home."

"Come and visit again with him. I still have some matters to discuss with your boyfriend." She says with a light laugh, Keiji faking one to please her. He the hugs Denise and his brother, congratulating them one last time on their engagement.

"Thanks bro!" Hiro pats him on the back, looking him in the eye a little more serious. "Anything you need, you tell me, okay?"

Keiji takes a deep breath, pulling him in a hug and keeping his face away from the two women in the room. "Don't let anyone go out front until tomorrow. I'll explain later."

"What?" Hiro says softly as well, but Keiji just pulls away and gives him what he hopes is a reassuring smile. Hiro still looks hesitant but sighs. "Okay. Just be careful and make sure to tell me later, okay?"

Keiji nods and lets go, waving as Denise and his mother giggle with the music playing in the background. He walks towards Kenma, who is still looking outside with phone in hand. The man looks up at him and straightens.

"You ready to go?" Keiji nods. Kenma opens the door and both step out as if nothing was wrong.

Even if everything is as wrong as it can be.

Kuroo still has his katana in hand as he sword fights with a man with blond hair who is a little smaller than him. The man has a golden and black kitsune mask, his clothes are all black except for a thick golden chain on each of his ankles. He fights with a more western looking sword, pushing Kuroo around with it as if he is trying to get through. Kenma and Akaashi both manage to get to the van, but just as he is about to get on, the blond man spots him, and even if he cannot see his face, he can tell his expression hardens and they lock gazes. He hops up with no sound, evading a blow from Kuroo, who notices the change of direction and swears when he notices the man is going towards Akaashi.

He closes the door the moment Kenma turns the car on. He has to move back to get out from behind another car, though, and when he does that there is a bump on the side of the van that makes them both look back.

There stands Bokuto, he is a weird morphed version of human and owl, having feathers on his arms and what can be seen of neck and shoulders. His hands have sharp, long black nails that look deadly. He impulses himself from where he bumped into the car and tackles a man to the floor. He has a very similar physic as the other man, for the exception of the grey hair and that his mask is the same but silver and white, as well as the golden chains being on his wrists instead. He notices the man doesn't have a weapon, instead fighting with his feet and legs while arms cover his chest and head. _'Does it have to do with the chains?'_

He has no time to look at more of the scene when Kenma presses on the gas and they are off. With a look out the window, he realizes that the direction they are going is not towards the city, but more towards the country side.

"Kenma, where are we going?"

The smaller man gives him the phone while maneuvering around some holes. "Daishou is the green dot, we are the blue. If he gets closer, tell me."

Akaashi takes the phone, seeing how they are getting away from the yellow dot while the green one is coming in their direction from the side where all the fields are. He glances there, not seeing anything in the dark, but that doesn't calm him at all. Looking back down at the phone, he notices that the yellow dot is moving towards them. Bokuto must be moving in their direction, which means the men with kitsune masks are also coming their way.

"Shit" Kenma says in a low voice and accelerates. Akaashi looks back and at the distance, now with the few street lights on, he notices a car and two fox silhouettes in front of it running way too fast. Kenma tries to go as fast as he can, now that there are not many houses or holes in the way, but the spirit-like animals are faster than they seem, and soon enough they manage to almost catch up. Akaashi is now sitting sideways, keeping an eye on the phone and one behind them. But then he notices the phone screen starts to glitch.

"Um, Kenma-"

"Look out!"

Akaashi can barely register Kenma's scream when the car stops and he goes forward with the impact. There's pain on his head, and when he brings his hand up to his forehead, it comes back dripping with way too much blood. His nose starts to drip as well, and his hand is crushed between his body and the dashboard. When he tries to move it out to push himself up, an immense pain shoots up, making even his shoulder numb. Akaashi groans, in the background he can hear the screeching of wheels, as well as a sizzling of something near.

There's a groan next to him, and he finds Kenma with his head against the wheel, blood coming out of his forehead as well.

"Kenma-" He tries to talk but he starts to cough. Just now realizing that there is smoke filling in the car. "Kenma, we have to get out."

He manages to somehow go across the car and open Kenma's door after sitting the man up. He climbs on top of the other carefully and then jumps out, his probably-broken hand clutched close to his chest.

"Let's go, buddy." Akaashi mumbles while taking Kenma out as best as he can while the other is unconscious. When he manages to take some steps away from the smoking car, there is a low laugh that he now recognizes.

"Where do you think you're going, Keiji?"

\----------

Bokuto can feel him all over. He can smell him, feel his cold magic in the air. Way too close and way too powerful. But it's not like he can do anything about it, since he is currently fighting with a freaking spirit that is way too powerful to be a normal one.

He has encountered way too many 'too powerful' being lately, and he does not like it.

The man he is currently fighting with only uses his feet and knees, even sometimes using his head to knock him off with his mask that seems to be made out of titanium. It could be, given it looks silver. But now its no time to think about that. He has to get to Keiji, so that nobody can harm him.

Even if the car he was in suddenly crashed, making his attention waver at what exactly made the car crash so harshly. Could it be-

_'I promised I wouldn't let Daishou get close, dammit.'_

His curse towards himself gets interrupted when the fox spirit, now made human, tries to kick him in the chest. Bokuto grabs the leg with his claws, barely hearing a groan from the spirit before he throws him as hard as he can towards the open field, into the tall grass so he can hopefully get lost and never come back, please and thank you.

"Bokuto!" He hears Kuroo yell, when he turns there's barely time to duck when the golden masked spirit throws his sword straight to his face. When he looks up again, the spirit moves his hand swiftly behind his back and suddenly the sword appears back in his hand.

"He can summon that thing?!" Bokuto manages to say before getting tackled by the grey fox spirit, the man turning from fox form to human so he can strangle him. Bokuto can smell like citrus, and he realizes its probably the spirit using his magic to heal where he inserted his claws. _'He does get hurt, huh? That's no normal ghost.'_

Bokuto takes this as an advantage and with one claw he slashes the spirit's throat, making him grasp at it while gasping. Bokuto manages to push him off and stand up, about to go help Kuroo, when a familiar sour smell becomes stronger.

"Go with them!" Kuroo yells in his direction, then screaming in pain when the spirit manages to slash him on the arm.

Bokuto doesn't hesitate a second, speed-running towards the other side of the crashed van where he can hear someone speaking.

"Where do you think you're going, Keiji?"

The voice sends a shiver down his spine. _That motherfucker._

Bokuto crosses the corner, and the moment he does he wishes that he had been faster, had come sooner.

Kenma is laying on the floor, unconscious and from what he can smell there's blood somewhere in him. Right in front of him, where the van is destroyed by a dent, there is Daishou, standing proud and tall as he has one hand holding Akaashi by the neck, squeezing hard. In a second, Akaashi goes limp. That's when Daishou decides to look in his direction, his serpent green and yellow eyes burning into his skull.

"What a treasure you got yourself, Koutarou. What a shame he is no longer yours, though." Daishou lets go of Akaashi, making the man fall to the floor way too hard. Bokuto is immediately on the move, but in a split second he is facing the other way.

"What the-" He looks back just to see a greenish portal closing. _He mastered portal magic?_

"Don't even try to get to us." Bokuto turns around, finding Daishou know kneeling down where he is lifting Akaashi's head up. He opens his mouth, a hissing sound deafening his senses as he sees what happened to him so long ago happen to the person he cares for the most.

Daishou's fangs go into Akaashi's neck and the man starts to suck both his blood and emotions. Keiji twitches a little, probably not totally unconscious at the moment, but he can't do anything to stop it. No one can at this point.

"You son of a bitch! Stop that!" He tries to step up, but another portal opens before him. He manages to dodge, losing balance and having to steady himself by leaning on the van next to him. When he looks up again, the stench of Daishou's magic is everywhere. He can almost see it. But there is another scent along his, a field of flowers mixed with vanilla.

_No._

With shock, he stands about three meters from where Daishou is leaning down over Akaashi, his fangs now stuck on his shoulder as he now sucks not blood, but Akaashi's own aura and soul.

"Get the fuck away from him!" He yells, and when he tries to take a step towards them, his feet feel like stuck to the ground. Daishou has a hand lifted, smirking from his place in Akaashi's shoulder.

"Why don't you come and stop me? Oh wait, you can't!" He laughs for about three seconds before going back to his smirk. "You knew this was coming."

Bokuto is physically straining as he tries to take a step, but Daishou pulls his hand back and Bokuto falls to his knees from the strain against the magic that was stopping him. When he is up again, the siren has Akaashi carried in his arms, a green portal opening behind him.

"Until next time, Koutarou." Daishou's words are followed by a whistle, and in an instant the two foxes are beside him, entering the portal first as he follows them with Akaashi in his arms. Bokuto runs the small distance, but when he tries to take a hold of the man's jacket, he ends up grasping into air.

"No" he whispers, looking back as if they will appear somewhere. As if they didn't really go away. "no, nononono NO"

He can barely hear Kuroo's yell for Kenma as Bokuto falls to his knees, his hands meeting the place where his boyfriend had been just moments earlier.

"Bokuto we need to go no- where's Akaashi?" His ears clear up at the last name, he looks up from his empty hands just to look back down. "Where is he-"

"Gone." Bokuto whispers, but Kuroo hears him, stopping his words.

He can't move, he can't feel, hear or see. He can't say more words or what exactly happened, because if he does then that means that it is true, that this is reality. He doesn't want to move from this place, where Akaashi's flowery scent still lingers, blended with Koutarou's own vanilla smell from their bonded souls. But the smell that predominates is sour and can even be tasted in the air, the smell of the man who just took the person dearest to him.

There's a hand on his shoulder, and Bokuto barely looks up to find Kuroo with a firm expression as he carries a limp Kenma on his back.

"We'll get him back." Kuroo squeezes his shoulder, trying to look strong. But Bokuto knows better, he can see the worry and hesitance in his eyes, how they barely meet his before he pulls back and fixes Kenma's position behind him. "We will find him and bring him back home. But first we have to help Kenma, okay?"

Bokuto stays there until Kuroo offers him a hand, pulling him up as good as he can without dropping the smaller man he's carrying. Bokuto stays standing there for a moment, wanting to inhale all that is left of Akaashi before he has to walk away from the last place they were together.

_'I couldn't save him.' 'I was not fast enough.' 'Not strong enough.' 'I didn't keep my promise.' 'I lost Akaashi.' 'Daishou won.' 'Daishou has my love.' 'He finally managed to win, after all this time-'_

"Hey man!" Kuroo interrupts Bokuto's thoughts, getting inside the car after cleaning the crash with his magic. Kenma is laying on the back seat as Bokuto gets in the copilot, Kuroo immediately driving off. He is constantly checking the mirror, which Bokuto guesses reflects Kenma. He curses and starts going faster with each passing minute.

Bokuto can't do much else than stare out the window. He feels as if there is something that has been physically ripped from his chest, as if part of him has been taken and left a hole in his soul. He never got too close to others for this same reason. He didn't date for this same reason. Because Daishou will obviously try and take that person away, trying to get him through the most vulnerable parts of Bokuto.

And he has him. Daishou has him and he won and he has Keiji and now Bokuto can't do anything else than wait to go back home so that they can come up with something. But he can't wait, he doesn't want to wait when right now he could be tracking down the siren, he could be getting his soulmate back.

_Is Keiji my soulmate? 'Does it matter now?'_ A voice inside him says, making him close his eyes to try and take a deep breath without tearing up.

The lights of the city blind him when he opens his eyes again, the banners way too colorful and people way too cheerful, as if the greatest person to have ever existed has not just been taken from his home, taken from Bokuto's arms and soul right in front of him.

"Help me with Kenma, I can't pick him up without making my arm bleed again." Kuroo says where he is standing by the back, carefully taking Kenma out.

Bokuto didn't even notice they were home.

Home.

_'But where's Keiji?'_ It's not home without the person who makes it feel like it.

He gets out of the car to carry Kenma, with a silent nod he gets Kuroo off of the injured man so that he can carry him himself, mostly thinking _'I have to do at least one good thing today. As insignificant as this is.'_

They cross the parking lot and walk through the garden, Kuroo opening the door while trying to put pressure on his cut to let Bokuto and Kenma in. They step inside the barely lit small lobby. Kuroo closes the door the same moment the front gate opens, revealing two tall men.

"O-oh. Hi there!" The shortest one of the two says, even if he is probably taller than Bokuto and Kuroo. Kuroo mumbles a hello the exact moment the guy gasps. "O-oh my god, are you guys okay?"

The guy stays stuck in place where they all met by the stairs, the three men obviously looking like they just came back from hell. For Bokuto it sure was.

"We're okay." Kuroo says, even if clearly they are not.

"B-but you're-"

"Let them be, Yamaguchi." The first words to come out of the tallest of the two, a blond with glasses. The smaller man, who he is now noticing has freckles and is called Yamaguchi, jumps a little at the voice beside him.

"Sorry, Tsukki!"

"Actually," Kuroo says hesitantly. Bokuto can feel him staring directly at him. "I think a little help won't be that bad."

Bokuto turns to him as he fixes Kenma in his arms, starting to feel a strain in his shoulders.

"You could be robbers. Or worse, killers." The blonds says, his tone sounding teasing in the worst way possible right now.

"Even if we wanted to do that, I don't think we have the energy to do so." Kuroo says as he begins to climb the stairs, Bokuto following suit, still not saying a word. They go up and up until they reach their apartment. Bokuto lingers for a second in front of Akaashi's, but stops himself from opening the door when Kuroo taps his shoulder.

"This one today, big man." He says is a soft way while gesturing to their apartment. Bokuto takes a breath and walks inside, going straight to the couch to lay Kenma down. Their apartment is not so different than Keiji's, theirs just has more things laying around, and most furniture and walls are dark colored so they don't reflect light that could hurt him in any way. All the windows are sealed and covered, so they have lamps and fans everywhere.

"Nice place." The blond says with a tone that is starting to make Bokuto's headache worse. He sits down on the floor by the wall as Kuroo comes back with a huge first aid kit. He starts telling Yamaguchi what to do to his arm, while with his free hand he is tending to Kenma's injuries. The smaller man stirs a little now and then, finally showing signs of consciousness as Kuroo keeps on looking him over for cuts and bruises.

"Do you want me to help him as well?" He hears a high pitched voice near him, when his eyes start focusing more he finds Yamaguchi gesturing his way. Kuroo looks at him for some seconds, before shaking his head.

"Don't worry about him."

"Are you sure?" The man looks at him a little skeptical, eyeing the cuts and bruises on his arms and face from fighting with the silver fox spirit's combat boots.

"He heals faster than us, so let's pay attention to helping Kenma." Kuroo sounds a little irritated as he tries to lift Kenma's head a little to bandage his head. Yamaguchi starts to help him with this, his attention finally leaving Bokuto.

But he can still feel someone watching him, and with a glace to a nearby chair he finds the blond guy looking at him as if he is analyzing him. Bokuto stares back, not caring. He finds that the man is wearing all black clothing, and he has a black choker on his neck that does not go with his vibe at all. There is something off about him, so when he decides to try and smell his aura, the man opens his eyes behind those thick rimmed glasses of his and stands up, making a lot of noise.

"What are you?" The man asks, the room staying silent afterwards.

"Tsukki, don't be rude." Yamaguchi says quietly from the floor.

"I said what are you. Answer me." The blond, Tsukki apparently, says. His stance becomes defensive and when Bokuto tries to smell his aura again, the man takes a step back. "I knew there was something off with you. Yamaguchi, lets go."

"W-what? Tsukki, what are you talking about?" Yamaguchi stands up and tries to block the space between the two men. Kuroo stays beside Kenma, but Bokuto can tell he is on edge from the other's behavior. They lock eyes for a second, and Bokuto tries to tell him _'can you feel it too?'_ with his eyes. Kuroo thankfully gets the message, and with a last look at Kenma's direction, he stands up and walks towards the other men when making sure his partner is stable.

"I don't know what you're on about, Tsukki." Kuroo says, and when he steps closer, Bokuto can pinpoint the moment he notices the same thing he did.

This man smells just as a shifter.

Bokuto cannot exactly tell which type, but he thinks Kuroo does when the other crosses his arms and looks at the blond.

"Don't call me that." The blond says, slightly stepping up towards Kuroo while making Yamaguchi subtly stand behind him. "I can tell you both use magic. I know you are a witch." He turns to Bokuto. "He is the one who is ticking me of. What are you?" He repeats himself more harshly. Bokuto is just tired, he lets his head fall to his knees as he pulls them up to his chest, making himself be a ball of a human being.

"You're observant. But I guess dogs are better at sniffing than us humans." Kuroo says, which makes Bokuto move his head to the side and look at the men. _'Oh, he's a werewolf.'_

"Excuse me." Tsukki looks taken back by being caught so fast, but the expression gets erased fast so that his glare takes over again. "Tell me what he is, or do you want your dirty little secret to be out to the landlord?"

"Oh, so you didn't notice Daichi's a witch as well? I though you'd be better than that." Kuroo walks back to Kenma the moment he starts moving around. "Hey, hey. Careful with your head." He says in a soft tone, now ignoring the glaring blond.

There is a grunt from Tsukki as he walks to Bokuto, standing in front of him. "Are you going to answer my question or do I need to repeat myself." When Bokuto doesn't move, the man touches him with his foot. "Hello? Does he speak?"

Bokuto takes a deep breath while closing his eyes. "Not to pains in the ass." Kuroo says as he walks to the kitchen.

"Oh, so he doesn't talk to you either." Bokuto can hear the voice nearer, and when he looks up he finds the tall man crouched in front of him, some feet away as if to keep a safe distance.

"Let him be." Kuroo answers from god knows where, he just keeps walking through the apartment and Bokuto cannot keep up with the vibrations.

"I will let him be when he tell me what he is."

"Tsukki, that's enough." Yamaguchi tries to make him stand but fails.

"I'm just trying to see if we're safe here, so shut up, Yamaguchi."

"Tsukki." Yamaguchi sounds more stern now, and when the blond looks up, he looks at Yamaguchi before sighing, putting his hands on his knees before standing up.

"Fukuro vampire." Bokuto croaks out, his voice almost an octave lower from how he whispers with a rasp from not talking for the almost hour of a ride earlier.

He sees as Tsukki stares at him, about to make a remark about something, but then the man frowns confused. "Fukuro? Those don't exist, I'm not stupid."

"We do exist. I'm from the last ones." He says. He moves his watch down and shows a small number inked on his skin. _004_.

"Am I supposed to assume something from a number on your wrist?" Tsukki says, know back down sitting crisscross on the floor. He may act as if he is uninterested, but his eyes say otherwise. Is always the eyes Bokuto can read the best.

"Shifters genetic experiment." Kuroo explains, knowing full well Bokuto is not up to speaking but is willing to let those people know. He doesn't show any person this faded mark on his skin, after all. _'Not even Keiji knows about it.'_

"O-oh." Yamaguchi stammers, as if he tries to say something but fails. Silence covers the room completely, making Bokuto take a deep breath and hide his face again.

Why did this have to happen?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song on the title by Bill Withers.
> 
> Make sure to check out Suguru's [Tumblr blog](https://suguru.tumblr.com/), and if you want to chat here's [mine!](https://is-a-bell-tmblr.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Here's the link to the fic's [playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4YAnv5HBcFCg6Uf5CSeHUM)


	14. I Will Not Bow

A week. It's been seven days since Akaashi got kidnapped by the person Bokuto hates the most in the whole goddamned world.

And Tsukishima Kei has officially struck the last very sane nerve in his very old but healthy body.

All of them have been working together these past days to try and find their lost friend. And by all he means Kenma, Kuroo, Yamaguchi and himself. Tsukishima is the only one who has not been cooperating at all for hours, even if he is the only one getting some kind of pay from this. Kuroo offered to help him with spells and medicine when there are full moons in exchange of his help in wolf form.

They have a little idea of where the pair of foxes and siren are hiding, and the plan is go by day when the fox-like spirits are weaker. Tsukishima would go with Bokuto and Kuroo, all of them in animal form and their magic scents hidden by a spell Kuroo has managed to master in two days. But of course, Tsukishima is refusing to go. Don't get him wrong, if they were in any other situation, Bokuto would actually kind of like the salty werewolf, tease him even. But this week has been the hardest in literal decades. There's nothing that can make his mood go up, the closest he has come to feel something more than dread and guilt of letting Akaashi be taken away was when they found the old warehouse that they suspect is where they are keeping his boyfriend.

"I'm just saying we should be more prepared for disaster. We still don't know if the spirits or whatever are more dangerous than we think." Tsukishima stands next to Kuroo, where they have a map of the city and its surroundings open on one of Kenma's huge computer screens. Bokuto sits with Kenma right in front of them, Yamaguchi in the kitchen as he makes coffee for all of them, being almost three in the morning.

"We are going at the break of dawn for a reason. That's when most spirits are weak." Kuroo has said this about a million times.

"You said you have a friend who is a fox spirit, right? Why not call him to make sure we don't end up, I don't know, dead?" The blond takes a steaming cup from Yamaguchi, who after passing the rest to the others, sits down at the head of the table.

"You really don't like listening to me, Tsukki." The man makes an animalistic growl at Kuroo's use of the nickname. "Terushima only appears at night. And if any of us go out of my guarded apartment, we will be immediately spotted by Daishou. How do you think he managed to find us in the first place?"

Tsukishima closes his eyes as he drinks from his coffee with a frown. He lets his eyes drift to Bokuto, who sits with his head resting on his arms as he crosses his eyes to look at the steam from the cup right in front of his face. "Bokuto knows that I'm right."

"Says who, puppy." Kuroo snaps immediately.

"He has been silent, so I guess he knows you're wrong but refuses to say it, don't you?" He now addresses Bokuto, who glances at him for a second before sighing and moving his head to the side, taking a deep breath as if to not bolt from the apartment. "Hey, I'm talking to you. I know you hear me, or do you just don't care enough?"

_Oh, that's it._

Bokuto stands, smashing his hands on the table with a force that makes everything, including Yamaguchi, jump at least four inches. Kuroo catches the computer as Kenma holds the cups, both keeping an eye on their friend.

He can feel his breathing heavily move his chest and shoulders up and down, there's a growl a little similar to what Tsukishima did earlier at the back of his throat as he feels his more animal side take hold for a moment. He knows his fangs are out and his eyes are now like a bird who just spotted its prey, he can tell by how his sight sharpens and the shadows in the room melt away.

Tsukishima doesn't move a muscle, but even if he acts and looks all tough, Bokuto can smell it. _Fear._

"The fox spirits are kitsune spirits. There are thirteen types, but they used magic for us to not identify them. We said this since day one. If you had listened, then probably you wouldn't be so fucking lost." He spits in Tsukishima's direction. Bokuto takes a deep breath when taking steps towards the tallest man of the five of them. "And don't even think I haven't tried going out."

"Oh, you have?" Tsukishima stays looking down at him, crossing his arms.

Bokuto clenches his fists. _Hitting is bad. Hitting is bad. Punching is bad, Koutarou. Get it together._ "Yes. Daishou's magic scent is all over. He has been around the apartment for some reason."

"He already has your boyfriend, why would he want to break in?" Bokuto can tell that Tsukishima is genuinely curious, but oh was that the wrong thing to say right now.

"He's after me! Okay?!" He literally yells on the other's face. "He has been after me since the fucking war even if the extermination project got cancelled! And I- UGH!" Bokuto is now pacing around the room, suddenly feeling the urge to punch something, or _someone_, out of pure rage. Instead, he grabs at his hair and drops to the floor, feeling his breathing getting heavy again.

He closes his eyes hard and tries to calm down his lungs and heart, having a horrific pressure in his chest that makes him feel a thousand pounds denser. His mind is going a mile an hour, all the thoughts and hidden stress from just one week barging down into his exposed mind and soul.

There's a hesitant hand on his back. When he looks up, expecting Kenma, he finds Yamaguchi offering his cup of coffee and a kind, comforting smile, even as his hands slightly tremble.

"Breathe with me." He says as he takes deep breaths, Bokuto looking at him with big eyes, the most vulnerable he has felt in a while. When the knot in his chest comes lose, Yamaguchi gives him his coffee, which Bokuto literally downs in a few seconds, making Yamaguchi gasp a little in surprise and concern. Then there's silence. "Tsukki." Yamaguchi's tone is a little deeper as he calls the blond, not taking his eyes off Bokuto's. _'He sure has a lot of freckles.'_

There's a sigh somewhere is the room, then an awkward cough from the person he hates the most at the moment, aside from a certain serpent someone. "I'm sorry for that comment. It was very, um, insensitive of me." Tsukishima sounds weirdly like a robot, but kind of like he means it?

Bokuto glances his way, then looking down with a deep breath. Yamaguchi gives him a hand to stand and tries to guide him to sit on a chair, but Bokuto shakes his head, instead signing the word for 'shower' and then walking off.

\----------

They look as Bokuto walks off, Kuroo taking a deep breath as he sees the man go away.

"This is straight out of a movie, I swear." He says before sitting back down. Yamaguchi sits again, leaving only Tsukishima standing. There's silence for a while, before Kuroo talks again.

"We should all be careful with what we say." His tone is obviously pointing daggers at Tsukishima, but he will not accuse him directly. _For now._ "Bokuto said he was going to shower, so let me tell you something to both of you now that he's gone." He turns to their neighbors, Yamaguchi flinching as the tall blond leans back on the wall as he plays with his choker. "Daishou is technically Bokuto's worst pain in the ass, in the sense that the man has tried to kidnap and even kill Bokuto in multiple occasions."

"Akaashi was just kidnapped, not Bokuto. I don't see why this is such a big deal." Tsukishima says as in a matter of fact, making Yamaguchi mutter a mad 'Tsukki' over his coffee cup.

"It's not just-" Kuroo raises his voice, but then he feels Kenma's hand over his and he leans back. _Breathe in, breathe out._ "We have a theory, and from what Bokuto explained to us, I think its true."

"And you decided to share that just now?"

"Tsukishima, let Kuroo talk." Kenma speaks for the first time in God knows how long, and Tsukishima actually looks taken back as he tightens his lips and looks to the side.

"As I was saying before being _rudely interrupted_, our theory is that Daishou kidnapped Akaashi to get a taste from Bokuto's soul." Tsukishima opens his mouth but then closes it, glancing at Kenma for a slight moment. "I can't say much about this without Bokuto's permission, but back when the war ended, the government started an operation called 'extermination project'. They had their strongest and most loyal individuals kill off the morphed humans that escaped. They were seen as a threat, since most were shifters. Daishou was the best at it for years, and from what I've heard, his only failed mission was Bokuto."

"They were all, um, killed?" Yamaguchi asks a little hesitant, suddenly looking a little too pure for this conversation, even if he is probably a few years younger than him.

"Not really. Some were spared, others managed to hide long enough. But Daishou has had an obsession with Bokuto for more than a century-"

"Wait, you meant World War ONE?!" Yamaguchi literally becomes white, the poor soul probably didn't expect for Bokuto to be so old.

"Yup. As I was saying, Daishou suddenly stopped trying to kill him some time ago. For a long time we even had him captured, but the little shit escaped twice." Tsukishima snorts at that. "Somehow, he got to know that Bokuto was getting close to Akaashi, and since he never got to me or Kenma, he went for him."

"Wait, wait." Tsukishima says, making Kenma glare at him. "Don't look at me that way, I have a question."

Kenma just keeps on staring at him for some seconds before going back to pulling his hair in a half-bun.

"So, my question." Tsukishima lets his body get off the wall and stays behind Yamaguchi. "Why would he go for people close to him instead of Bokuto himself? And if he does that to get Bokuto closer, by him trying to rescue Akaashi in this case, then isn't our plan even more dangerous than what I already said?"

"Daishou is a serpent siren, he not only feeds off the soul and emotions but also blood." Kenma takes out his phone after that, not giving more of an explanation.

Their neighbors turn to Kuroo, obviously. "What he means is that Daishou has tried in multiple occasions to not kill Bokuto, but to _feed off him_. The man is literally insane now that the government has gone from having him as his favorite to being a fugitive. He can't kill Bokuto because he is a species protected by the law. After a while he realized he could kinda get back at Bo by feeding off him, both through blood and by sucking part of his soul along with it. But Bokuto doesn't really care about that and literally offered to feed the guy sometimes."

Tsukishima actually barks a laugh at that. "He did that?"

"Yes. Daishou loved it, because he actually made Bokuto be emotionally lost for a while. With Kenma we tried to stop him when he told us. But it was too late and Daishou had already become addicted to Bokuto's scent and _taste_."

"Oh my god." How can Tsukishima find this amusing enough to smile? That man really is wicked.

"Just get to the point already, Kuroo." Kenma puts his phone down. "Technically, Daishou now wants to get close to Bokuto because, after trying to kill him multiple times, he became addicted to his magic scent and blood, but with Kuroo's spells he couldn't get close for about five years. So he started to feed off the people close to Bokuto, because when you share emotions with somebody, both your and the other person's souls bond. When Daishou noticed Akaashi and Bokuto liked each other, he made Akaashi his next prey, since their souls are almost fully bonded now from the amount of love they have for each other."

Silence. None talk, taking in Kenma's words as he goes back to his small phone screen. Kuroo realizes he is programming something, probably trying to reactivate Daishou's tracker that got turned off the night he kidnapped Akaashi.

"That would be really sweet, if it wasn't for the soul feeding and kidnapping." _Is Tsukishima trying to lighten the mood?_

Kuroo is about to say something, when he hears steps behind him. From over his shoulder he finds Bokuto with a towel over his head, walking back into the living room with a baggy shirt and basketball shorts.

"Feeling better?" He receives a small nod as an answer. He straightens when Bokuto walks towards Tsukishima, standing in front of him quietly for some seconds. The tense air in the room impedes any of them to speak, even Tsukki is silent, expecting Bokuto's words.

"I'm sorry." From everything he was expecting, that was actually an option, but he's still surprised when Bokuto blurts it out. "I shouldn't have gotten mad."

"You shouldn't." Yamaguchi elbows Tsukishima in the stomach at his words. "But I'm sorry as well. I was rude."

"Oh my, who would though the man with the biggest pride would recognize his own mistakes." Kuroo blurts with a laugh, the tension in the air finally melting away when Tsukishima lets out an actual small, offended _bark_. His cheeks color as he looks down with a mumble of 'shut up', even Kenma giggling at the six foot tall man who just _barked. He can't believe he just barked so adorably._

"I think we should all go to sleep. Yamaguchi, let's go." Tsukishima is still extremely red as he walks out of the room, the freckled boy following him with a goodbye and a smile over the shoulder.

When the door closes, Kenma gets up and walks towards it, opening the door next to it to his and Kuroo's bedroom. He lets the door slightly open, knowing his partner will follow soon.

But Kuroo cannot leave before making sure his bro is 100% good and that he won't try escaping as they sleep.

"Would you like me to stay to talk?"

Bokuto shakes his head, then he signs 'sleep'. Both of them learned Japanese Sign Language when they first moved in together for when Bokuto doesn't feel like talking. Kenma doesn't need it, he just somehow knows what Bokuto wants and needs without communicating. One of the many talents their friend has.

"Okay, but don't hesitate in coming to our room if you need anything." Kuroo gives him a hug and leaves.

And of course Bokuto is missing when he comes out of his room an hour later.

\----------

"It was bound to happen."

"We haven't heard of him in five hours! This is serious Tsukishima!"

"It was about time you used my name correctly."

"Kuroo, Tsukishima, shut up." Kenma has been typing away on his computer ever since Kuroo came to his room frantically yelling that Bokuto was gone. Kuroo felt bad for waking him up, since he looked very tired earlier and he was just so cute tangled up on the covers. But this is a matter of life and death. Literally.

Kenma is using his computer, one of his phones, and a tablet, all at the same time to try and reactivate Bokuto's bracelet. They know he took it with him because he doesn't know how to take it off, and because it is magically bound to him and only Kuroo can take it off. But somehow, he managed to deactivate it on Kenma's computer. The screen had been on with many of Kenma's programs were open, and there were red letters at the end of some coding that spelled 'tracker deactivated'.

"I didn't even know he has my password." Kenma mutters for the hundredth time, squinting at the screen even if his glasses are right on top of his head. Kuroo ignores one of Tsukishima's comment by his side and goes to sit with the smaller man.

"You'll hurt your eyes." He lowers Kenma's glasses, the man not even glancing in his direction as he keeps on tapping away.

On this past five hours they've known Bokuto had gone out, Kuroo had tried every single spell he knows to try and find his friend, even asking some fellow witches to do so as well. But nobody can find him, not even Tsukki's hound nose.

"I'll try calling him." Kuroo walks to his phone and presses the buttons from muscle memory.

"You've done that a thousand times already." Tsukishima falls on the sofa with crossed arms right next to Yamaguchi, who has been checking many surveillance cameras from all around the area after Kenma managed to hack into the municipal security system. The werewolf had been even moodier after they woke them up, afterwards becoming even more pouty when he failed on tracing Bokuto's scent.

"Shut up." Kuroo says in a singsong voice that makes Tsukishima let his body slide down the couch until his head slightly meets Yamaguchi's shoulder with a groan.

Kuroo stays still as the phone rings and rings, even if he knows that Bokuto's familiar voice mail is going to resound on his ear for the hundredth time.

When the message starts, he groans and throws the phone towards the nearest cushion, not caring when it falls to the floor with a _'thunk'_

"That's it, I'm going out." He takes a coat and starts to put on the first shoes he finds by the door, suddenly Yamaguchi lets out a small yelp.

"I think I found him!"

They all immediately go to look over his shoulder, where Bokuto is shaking his limbs in the dark, a gesture he does when he just transformed back from a flight. The street seems familiar, and when he notices the restaurant-slash-bar where the man is walking towards, he lets a curse leave his lips as he grabs his phone and car keys.

"Why are you moving faster now?" Tsukishima says as if it physically bothers him to see him move around.

"He's at Terushima's mythic restaurant!" Kuroo looks for something on a bowl full of keys and coins. _'Where is that damned amulet?!'_

"Wasn't that the fox guy I said we should go meet?" Tsukishima has that annoyed tone again, but Kuroo can see that he is standing up, taking Yamaguchi with him, and going for his shoes.

"Last time he went there alone, we had to pick him up at a temple all the way to Nagano after getting abducted by a demigod." Kuroo hears Kenma do a small whistle, and when he turns around he notices he has in hand both their amulets. He walks to grab his and puts it on, then walking to the door with Kenma right behind him with his tablet in hand.

"W-wait!" They hear Yamaguchi say. He is trying to put his shoes on while still looking at the screen, probably trying to not let Bokuto out of his sight. His face suddenly turns a little white as he stays still, shoe in hand. "Are the fox spirits you were talking about look like a pair of twins?"

Kuroo takes the laptop from his hands harshly, gaining a click of the tongue from Kenma. When he looks at the screen, he can see how the cameras from outside the restaurant show that Bokuto is talking to Aone by the door, but right at the end of the street there are two guys who look like they just walked out of the ally behind them.

"I'd recognize those ridiculous matching hairstyles anywhere." He walks right out the door, the other three men following him.

"Like you're one to talk about ridiculous hair." He hears Tsukishima say, but he decides to ignore him.

They get to his car, being the only available one they have since the van crashed, and all four men immediately get on silently, Kuroo not even waiting for Yamaguchi to close his door as he steps on the gas.

\----------

"Aone, please just let me talk to him! I've already talked with all the animal spirits I know!"

The big man shakes his head as his arms stay crossed. The bar is open and Bokuto could have been able to step inside, if it wasn't for this gigantic human gorilla who decided to stop him before he even set foot inside since the sun is about to come out.

"Please, man. It's an emergency. I've got these two guys who helped someone kidnap my boyfriend! You know, the one I brought here some weeks ago?" At this Aone at least has the balls of looking a little astonished, he even opens his mouth as if to say something, but then he looks over his shoulder the moment the smell hits him.

_Citrus. Orange and lime._ His mind immediately recognizes the auras and he glances at the place Aone is looking at, finding two men walking in their direction. They look exactly the same, if it wasn't for the direction and color of their hair. Even without chains and their masks barely visible in the dark, he knows who these fuckers are.

"Um, Aone, remember what I just told you of the guys who helped kidnap my boyfriend?" He doesn't even finish what he was about to say and Aone is already pulling him inside, closing the door behind him and pointing with a hand towards the door he is usually guarding on busy nights. He then shows his back to Bokuto, staring outside with an air of protectiveness.

Bokuto immediately smiles and doesn't let a single second pass by as he dashes to the second floor. He stops in front of the second door just as he finishes going up the stairs, the symbols bringing back some memories from when he first introduced Akaashi to some of his supernatural world.

_I'll get you back no matter what, Keiji._

He steps in and the atmosphere immediately shifts, the place coming to life right in front of his eyes. He looks around in an agitated state, trying to spot his fox friend. He spots some familiar faces that smile his way, and he tries to smile back even if he knows it probably looks rude or creepy, since he currently looks like shit from not sleeping for days.

After not being able to spot Terushima, he decides to start walking around. He bumps on other people as he gets his way through the main bar that always seems to be full. He thinks he has spotted his friend, when suddenly someone grabs him by the arm.

"Hey man! Haven't seen you since, like, the eighties!" When Bokuto turns towards the source of the voice, he finds a man with hair slicked back, looking very old fashioned. He has a leather jacket and tight jeans, a cigarette in hand. It takes a few seconds for Bokuto to recognize him.

"Towada! W-what are you doing here?" Bokuto glances over his shoulder, trying to keep an eye on Terushima, who seems to be walking towards the hallway with private rooms. _Please don't go inside, please don't go inside, please don't go-_

"Came back after a friend of mine managed to fix some papers for a new passport." The man interrupts his thoughts, swinging the cigarette around. "It's been a while since I last saw you, but I do have to admit that you look like you're in a hurry, so go."

Bokuto looks back at his face and smiles as best as he can. "I'll contact you another day!"

The man waves his way with a smile and turns back to where he was talking to a red head with horns by a standing table. Bokuto lets his rapid feet carry him to the direction he last saw his friend, thankfully finding him just as he is about to knock on a door.

"Terushima!" The other is just turning around when there is a huge bang and people start to scream behind him. Terushima's eyes open in surprise at Bokuto. Or more like what's behind him. When the vampire manages to turn around, he finds two giant foxes growling at people. He recognizes them immediately, and a boiling feeling covers his entire being. The moment he takes a step forward though, there's light beside him. When he turns, he finds Terushima fully transformed.

This time he is not small as when he showed his fox form to Keiji. Now he is at least as high as Bokuto himself, the many tails behind him have growing flames at the very end that start to grow as all creatures start disappearing and leaving from his and the other foxes' way.

"This is not your territory." He hears Terushima's voice say with a growl, but his mouth never moves a bit. When Bokuto looks back to the foxes, they are not even paying attention to the powerful being threatening them. Instead, their masks are glued to Bokuto.

He wished he had time to shift.

The golden fox manages to bite at his arm hard, his paws pulling as if he is trying to bring Bokuto down to the floor. He groans in pain, being human is not the best right now, given it is his weakest form. When he tries to kick the fox away, the silver one jumps at his other side. Thankfully, Terushima tackles him to the floor. The moment his flames make contact with the other beast, the silver fox transforms. There stands the man from outside, with his mask and chains just like back then.

Not only Bokuto is distracted by the sudden transformation, the fox hanging from his arm stays still for a second, so he takes advantage of this and takes his upper jaw in one hand to get free from his mortal grip. _'Wow, his jaw locks like a pitbull- CONCENTRATE BOKUTO!'_

As the golden fox tries to stand from where he crashed into some tables when Bokuto throws him off, Bokuto shifts into his owl-human form from last time. He decides to let the feathers come out more now. Even if he was never good at manipulating the wind around him with them, he can try his best against the twins.

"Terushima! They are no normal kitsune spirits!" He yells just as the golden fox jumps at him again, trying to bite at his arm again but he dodges and tries to get his claws into the animal's flesh. He misses, but manages to knock him out of balance. When he comes back up, he transforms and immediately calls for the sword Bokuto has begun to hate.

"Well, no shit! They don't follow any of my commands!" He hears Terushima's voice inside his head and all around him, his presence big on the now too small and disorganized second floor. Bokuto jumps to the side as the golden fox, now human, tries to get him with his sword. But what he notices is that he keeps aiming for his arms, not his head and chest. _'You don't want to kill me?'_

"Bokuto!"

_'Took them long enough to find me.'_ He thinks as he immediately smells Kuroo's magic. He dodges another strike from the sword, but bumps against a chair and almost falls to the floor. The seconds he takes to regain balance, the man with the golden mask tries to strike at him again. Suddenly there's a metallic sound of the man's sword and Kuroo's katana clashing.

"We meet again." He says smugly at the man, who clicks his tongue and tries to strike at Kuroo. Kuroo backs the other away enough for Bokuto to stand. But when he does so, the other man with a kitsune mask tackles him to the floor. Bokuto takes his chained wrists and they wrestle on the floor. From the side he can see Terushima a little out of bounds, probably having received a strike from the fox now attacking him. That though brings him back to the man on top of him. He realizes he doesn't have as much strength on his arms as the other, he doesn't even have a sword like him. But his legs are like rock where they hold Bokuto's middle and waist down, one knee pressing to his chest.

"Duck!" He hears from a voice he takes a while to recognize. The moment he lets his head hit the floor, there's a chair hitting the other man. He pushes him off, which lead him to be smacked to the opposite wall from Bokuto's strength. When he looks to the direction of the chair, he finds Tsukishima with a hand outstretched in his direction, the other hand in keeping Kenma behind his back in a protective manner. At the side, he spots Yamaguchi helping Terushima. _How can that kid touch Terushima in his pure form?_

"You son of a bitch!" Kuroo yells from where he get slashed on the same arm from last time, making him almost drop the katana. Bokuto stands and jumps in his direction, feathers giving him even more height. He lands straight on the golden kitsune's back, falling right on top of him.

"Hey! Did you see that?" His excitement gets cut short when the other kitsune spirit manages to take him from the arm, the same from earlier. The wounds were almost closing, but the being reopens them and makes Bokuto scream in a language that probably none other than Terushima recognize. Talking of the big fox, _WHERE IS HE?_

_'Oh, there he is.'_ He says to himself when the almost two meter tall kitsune stomps on the silver fox, forcing him to turn human once again. But just as they all jump to catch him, he stomps a foot and says something in ancient Japanese, disappearing into thin air.

Silence reigns as they all finally stop fighting with the foxes, one gone and the other unconscious under Bokuto's feet-claws.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is a song by Breaking Benjamin!!!
> 
> Make sure to check out Suguru's [Tumblr blog](https://suguru.tumblr.com/), and if you want to chat here's [mine!](https://is-a-bell-tmblr.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Here's the link to the fic's [playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4YAnv5HBcFCg6Uf5CSeHUM)


	15. Hurt

"I'm tired."

"You didn't do SHIT and my arm is falling off!"

"Kuroo, stay still."

"No, Kenma. I will not tolerate this six feet salty french fry wining when he barely lifted a finger!"

"I'm tired of you screaming."

"Tsukki!"

"Shut up, Yamaguchi."

"Are they always this way?" Terushima asks Bokuto, who still hasn't shifted back and has his eyes trained on the golden foxed who is now tied by a spell to a chair. Bokuto just nods his head, not really paying attention as he concentrates on the man's mask. "Even if you do that for hours, the mask is not going to disappear until he commands it to, you know."

"I know." Bokuto says, but still continues to glare at the man. His head is hanging down, both arms and legs still against the chair from the spiritual hold Kuroo put on him. Terushima tried making something, being a higher and purer kitsune spirit, but he couldn't really do anything ever since those golden chains appeared on his ankles.

"An illegal tied to another being. And a very strong one, that is." Terushima had said after inspecting the chains. They slowly materialized, the sword disappearing the more the chains were visible. When any of them tried picking the weapon up, they all felt as if their hands were burning, even Terushima.

Talking about burning hands, Bokuto lets his eyes wonder from the unconscious man to Yamaguchi, who is sitting with a laptop right next to Tsukishima. From what he has managed to hear from them, they hacked into some security cameras to try and look into the warehouse they suspect has Keiji, but some of the footage show static, so they are trying to fix that. _At least Tsukki seems to be helping more._

"Hey, freckles." Yamaguchi immediately looks up a him with a flinch and a nod of acknowledgement. "Why didn't you get burned when helping Terushima on his giant mode?"

For a moment his eyes go all big, he then glances to Tsukishima and then to the floor as his voice resounds around the quiet messed up place. "I've got protection against some beings, I guess."

"Wait, wait, wait. That's not possible without a very complex and permanent spell. Not even I can do it that easily." Kuroo looks confused as he talks, letting a hiss escape him at the end of his sentence when Kenma starts to put something on the burns he got from trying to hold the kitsune's sword earlier.

"Got help from a witch outside the city when we were looking for a way to help Tsukki with fu-"

"YAKU?!" Kuroo yells at the young man. Yamaguchi nods after jumping about a foot in the air from the scare he got. "I told that little shit to give me all the information he had on skin protection spells!"

Tsukishima snorts at him. "What, so that you get a better tan?"

"For Bokuto to be able to get one, actually." Kuroo says with half a smile, knowing that he won this time as Tsukishima's eyes go wide behind his glasses. "I'll have to go and physically get that information from him after this is over."

Bokuto is about to say something regarding Kuroo's last comment, but suddenly there's a groan from right in front of him. When he takes a look, the kitsune spirit is starting to move his head and shoulders, untensing them as he slowly wakes up. They all look at him as he takes in his surroundings, his eyes are not visible but Bokuto can tell they are taking it all in while looking around. When he tries to violently move his arms towards Bokuto, they stay behind his back. The man snickers and struggles for a while before staying still again when realizing there's no getting out of his situation that easily.

"You done struggling?" Kuroo says as Kenma finishes wrapping his hands up. The kitsune-man turns his head at him and scoffs, letting out a groan after.

"Why don't you obey my orders?" Terushima immediately asks, Bokuto holding him back with an arm before the fake blond jumped the other. Bokuto stares at him intently, trying to find his eyes to hypnotize the man. He can tell his magic stinks all over the place from his magic earlier, and now Terushima and Tsukishima both cover their noses, both probably not being able to mask magic scents at will as well as he can.

"Bro, even I can smell you. It won't work." Kuroo stands next to him and lays a hand on his shoulder, the other hand covering his nose. Bokuto sighs and closes his eyes tightly, hearing a 'finally' from Tsukki.

"So?" Terushima tries to intimidate the other by increasing in size, but the man tied to the chair barely moves his head to the side. "Hey! I'm talking to you!"

Bokuto realizes that the kitsune-man is not looking at Terushima, but at him. Bokuto moves to the side, and the man's head moves with him. He tries to walk to the other side, and the man keeps on following him with his head.

"Something weird on my face?" Bokuto asks, and is surprised when the man tries to talk, but only a strained sound comes out. _'Huh, weird'._

"You can't talk?" Bokuto says, and the man nods.

"He understands us!" Terushima says sarcastically and decides to walk towards the bar.

Kuroo kneels and looks at the chains on the man's feet. "Did Daishou put these on you?" He looks up to try and get an answer, but the man still has his face towards Bokuto. Kuroo frowns and looks back at the vampire. "You ask him."

"Okay." Bokuto gets close and imitates Kuroo's voice. "Did Daishou put these on you?" He gets two things: an elbow from Kuroo and a nod from the spirit. "Oh, you only answer to me?" Another nod. Bokuto looks at Kuroo, who is now standing up. The man sighs and shakes his head.

"I truly don't know why he just pays attention to you. Probably goes with the chain spell."

Bokuto crosses his arms, hissing a little at the wounds on his arms that are not fully closed yet. He cocks his head to both sides, and then narrows his eyes. "Can you take your mask off?"

The man waits a little to answer, making them all hold their breaths in hopes of a positive answer. He nods, but doesn't take it off.

"Well, then take it off."

For the first time, the man's face turns in Terushima's direction, but they go back to Bokuto after a second and he shakes his head. Terushima makes an 'ah' sound and takes a sip from a beer bottle before speaking. "Dashuhu, or whatever the name of the being he serves, probably cursed him or something to not show his true identity to higher deities. Being vulnerable in power and that shit."

"How did I not notice that." Kuroo scolds himself and clasps his hands. "Then I guess you're going back home with us, pal."

The spirit groans and lets his head fall back, some dark stubble on the part of his chin that is visible. He then looks over his shoulder, and in one moment he pushes himself back and falls on his back, breaking the chair. They all try to catch him, but in a moment he's on his feet. The chains are still there, and he still has his hands magically tied behind his back, but with a jump and the flick of a wrist, his hands are in front of him holding his sword.

"Oh, don't you dare cut me again, bastard! I'll melt that ugly sword of yours!" Kuroo takes his dagger out, and he is about to transform it into a katana when the kitsune suddenly goes limp and falls. They all stare as he goes face first into the floor, on his place is now standing Kenma with a syringe on his hand. "Babe, what the fuck is that and how did it knock the spirit out." Kuroo sounds as confused as Bokuto is.

"Liquid silver." He checks the tip of the syringe before putting it inside his pocket.

"Doesn't that kill spirits?" Bokuto asks as both he and Kuroo lean down to pick up the man now that he is not moving at all, avoiding the sword laying beside him.

"He would have evaporated now if it really killed him." Kuroo says. He grabs the man's ankles as Bokuto lifts him up by the armpits effortlessly. "He's one hundred percent physical form now."

"Is that why he's so heavy?" Bokuto lets out a strained groan when trying to not drop the man as they walk towards the stairs. They pass Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, who are still looking into the computer. The human of the two looks up at them with big doe eyes.

"We're going back?" He asks with a lingering hand on the computer keyboard. Tsukishima is still looking at the screen with a frown as he moves Yamaguchi's hand to click something on screen.

"If you want a free ride, then yes. You could always keep Terushima some company." They turn to the kitsune spirit the moment he throws his head back to finish the beer bottle in hand. Tsukishima just takes a glance and closes the computer before straightening.

"I don't want to be in the same room as that thing for longer than I already have." He says with a sniff and a grimace before walking towards the stairs. Yamaguchi going after him in a second. The rest start to follow them down, Kenma saying something that Bokuto doesn't hear to Terushima before following them. When they reach the first floor bar, thankfully Terushima closed it after the mess they made, the windows bring a yellowish light into the room, signaling that its close to sunset now. Bokuto frowns at the sun that hits him as they walk, and when they reach the door he tries to cover his arms with the man he is holding. Yamaguchi is standing outside with Tsukishima, both looking at the road for people. When the blond glances at them with a nod, they walks fast to where Kenma is turning the car on.

"Bokuto, get in. Tsukki will help me with the guy."

"I'll what?" The stares at Kuroo for some seconds before pushing his glasses up his nose with a 'tch' and taking Bokuto's side of the man to sit him in the car as best as he can.

"I'll fly back!" Bokuto says before stepping inside the bar, just to go out a second after in his owl form. He faintly hears Kuroo yell something at him about going straight to the apartment complex, but he takes impulse with his wings and goes towards the top of the buildings where its harder to see him flying.

Bokuto has always loved his owl form, its what he would miss the most if Kuroo ever manages to make him fully human. When he flies there's wind everywhere and he doesn't get burned with the sun even if it bothers his eyes a little. He loves diving into an ally just to scare a stray cat, or sometimes fly through some houses to make children smile in awe at the big snowy owl flying by. He loves to fly all the way to the parks, where people take pictures of him and pat his head, amazed that they can touch such creature. He loves to fly to the fields sometimes, now with new found memories with Keiji.

Keiji.

The though distracts him enough to not see the pointy arrow coming his way. It goes though his wing, making him start to fall down. With a curse, Bokuto manages to take it out with his beak, but when he tries to take flight again there's pain where the arrow struck. He looks around to find a place to land, and that's when he spots him.

A man in all black standing on top of a building, an arrow in hand as he draws it back on an invisible bow. The arrow flies towards him at abnormal speed, but Bokuto manages to dodge. He has to round the man to get to the apartment, but with that strength and speed of the arrows he can possibly be hit from any direction he flies to.

His wing is bleeding more now, and as he checks it, the man strikes him again on the same wing, but closer to his body. He can't help but think that the man has a very good aim.

If he can't get away, then what if he got closer? Would that make him more of a target? Or would it throw off the man's aim?

Bokuto has no time to waste. With a small dive he takes off the arrow, blood flowing out, and then tries to bat his wings as strongly as he can right over the man's head to try and pass by.

He notices the man is tall, he has chains on his ankles and a mask, but not a full kitsune one like the other two guys. His mask looks like a cat's mouth, only covering from his nose down. He has curly hair and what he thinks are beauty marks on his forehead. His thick eyebrows are knitted together as he draws back his arm, an arrow appearing in hand. Bokuto has half a second to move to the side before the arrow almost strikes his other wing.

_'He's not trying to kill me?'_

Bokuto tries to fly as fast as he can now that he knows how the man looks like, to tell Kuroo of course. Three arrows pass by consecutively from the back, one slashing the side of his face as it goes by. He maneuvers enough to go around his apartment building and fall into the garden at the back.

He transforms back, breathless and bleeding _way too much_ now. He stands on shaky legs and runs inside, the sun thankfully blocked by the building's tall shadow.

He walks as fast as he can towards the stairs, putting as much pressure as he can on the wounds that go through his arm. He can feel blood go down his cheek and neck, and when he makes a face he feels pulsating pain all the way to his shoulder.

_'What the hell was in that arrow?'_

He reaches his floor and stumbles towards the door, starting to feel dizzier and dizzier as time goes by. Without available hands to open the door, he knocks with his foot and lays against the wall beside the door to not fall, his knees slowly giving up and making him slide down the wall. He hears steps and a 'who's there?' from Kenma.

"It's me!" His voice cracks from the pain, and he looks down while suppressing a grimace when a pulsating sting covers the right side of his face. He sees drops of blood fall to the floor while evening his breaths. Kenma finally opening the door. Bokuto hears a gasp, the small man yelling for Kuroo as he steps over to hold him before he falls. His shirt is soaked in blood all over, and his sight is starting to get cloudy from the loss of blood.

"What is i- shit!" Kuroo just takes a look at him and helps Kenma hold him up as they guide his almost limp body inside. "Tsukishima! Come help! Kenma, bring me the kit under the kitchen sink."

"There's no need to yell." Tsukishima's voice sounds more far away than he actually is. There's an intake of breath from his direction as he takes faster steps to take Kenma's place. Kuroo is asking him a million questions about what happened to him. He manages to mumble 'arrows' before getting laid down on the sofa, nobody caring about the blood stains that will probably will be a pain to take out.

"I need you to keep on talking to me." Kuroo is now using his doctor voice, which makes Bokuto smile, immediately regretting it when the cut on his face stretches. "Oh, god. If it hurts too much, just make noises to know that you're alive, at least."

"Arrows. Cursed?" He says as Kenma gets there, Kuroo yells something at someone about water and a rag. He faintly feels Kuroo pressing around the places he got struck with the arrows, now on his human form one injury is under the elbow and the other in the middle of his bicep. "Man black, um, shains."

"He had chains?" Kuroo sounds a little more calm, again using his doctor voice. "Like our friend here?"

Bokuto turns his head slightly, finding the kitsune blond man tied to a chair by the kitchen. He tries to nod. "Now ow."

"Ow? No bow?" Kuroo keeps on talking as he does something to Bokuto's arm. He barely feels what's been done to him, probably stitches, so he doesn't dare look. "The man had no bow but yes arrows?" He stops for a second, but with a nudge from Kenma he continues on what he was doing.

"Mjm. Ass, mass, mask!" He manages to say, but then groans at the pain, closing his eyes and letting his head roll to the side.

"Bo! Bokuto! Keep your eyes open!" He hear Kuroo yell at him. Bokuto obeys, but the light makes him squint. There's pressure on his arm, and when he looks back he finds that Kuroo has managed to stitch both of the wounds and is now covering them gently with bandages. Kuroo gives the roll to Yamaguchi, who is sitting at one of his sides, and the freckled man continues to bandage his arm. Then, the black haired man moves closer to his face and frowns.

"How did he even get you in the face like that?" Kuroo sounds genuinely confused but also mad as he inspects the cut on his cheek. It starts on his jawline, near his ear, and curves up to pass by his eye and slash part of his eyebrow. "If you're not vamp-healing, that means there will probably be a scar."

Bokuto groans and rolls his eyes, Kuroo finally breaking a small smile as he turns to ask Kenma for some stuff. He slowly disinfects the cut, which makes Bokuto almost yell from the sting. He is sure he broke Yamaguchi's arm from how hard he clutched it. Then, Kuroo has to stitch the places where the arrow cut the deepest.

"I'll patch it up for now. Don't move your face." Kuroo starts to gently pat his face with a cotton to take off the excess blood, then he starts to cover the wound with two patches.

"Could you bring him something to drink?" Tsukishima grunts as a response, walking to the kitchen with tensed shoulders. "Hey, Bo." Bokuto turns to Kuroo, who's now sitting a little more relaxed since Bokuto seems and is more stable. "That shirt is totally going to the trash."

Bokuto chuckles deep in his throat, letting his head move to the side. He finds Kenma's eyes, which are full of concern as he looks over his bandages. He tries to clear his throat, which leads to a coughing fit. Kenma just looks more alarmed, but when Bokuto calms down he tries his best at a smile with the side of his face available for movement.

"I'll be okay." His voice is raspy and low, but Kenma hears it and lets out a huge breath to force himself to relax. He smiles back.

Tsukishima comes back silently with a glass of water, waiting after Kuroo helps Bokuto sit up to give it to him. He drinks it in a few seconds, putting it down between his legs when he is done drinking and getting more stitches than Frankenstein.

"Can I somehow take this shirt off? I feel like a tampon."

And just like that, the tension is thankfully gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter's name is a song by Johnny Cash!!!
> 
> Make sure to check out Suguru's [Tumblr blog](https://suguru.tumblr.com/), and if you want to chat here's [mine!](https://is-a-bell-tmblr.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Here's the link to the fic's [playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4YAnv5HBcFCg6Uf5CSeHUM)


	16. Not Going Anywhere

Its barely two hours after Bokuto got attacked and he is already back on his feet.

Kuroo insisted that he rest more, but hey, he's got a fast healing body, cursed arrow or not.

He can tell the wounds are healing slower though. They sting when they move, he feels as if his face is about to fall off when he speaks, and since he cannot move his arm to change, he had to cut his shirt and he is sitting on the bloody sofa with just a blanket covering his torso. So if you were to ask him, he is uncomfortable.

But such uncomfortableness goes away when the kitsune-man he has been guarding while resting starts to gain consciousness. Bokuto notices the man is trying to hide the fact that he's awake now, but nothing has ever escaped Bokuto's kin eye.

"Don't you dare try and break that chair." Bokuto mumbles around a straw before soundly drinking the rest of the cup.

"Who are you even talking to?" Tsukishima turns around where he is still trying to hack into more street cameras. He probably notices the same as Bokuto. "Oh, he's awake."

"Who?" Kuroo sits on the floor playing UNO with Yamaguchi. He takes a look down and smiles before slamming his hand with his last card. "HA! I win!"

"This is the third time you win." Yamaguchi mumbles as he straightens up, cracking his back.

"Cause I'm the best." Kuroo stands and takes something out of his pocket. One flick and he has his katana in hand. "Now let's see if our friend wants to take that pretty mask off."

Bokuto tries to stand but Kuroo stops him from doing so. "Hey!"

"You stay there in case this guy decides to pull something funny like back at the bar."

"But he only answers to me!"

Kuroo rolls his eyes and passes his free hand through his hair with a huge exhale. "You can talk from the sofa."

Bokuto frowns but then winces at the pain it causes him. "Okay DAD." The kitsune-man makes a sound at that. "Hey, hey! Was that a laugh?!"

The man groans and his head moves up, immediately towards Bokuto's direction.

"Let's see, I order you to take off your mask!" Bokuto points at the man, not really expecting a thing. But then he moves his head in the direction of his hands, moving a shoulder forwards gently. "What? Your shoulder hurts?"

"He has to use his hands to do it, dumbass." Tsukishima is still sitting by the computer, but he is now facing them. Well, he is actually facing Yamaguchi's way. That dog is so possessive, Bokuto is surprised he didn't notice earlier how he is always kind of looking at the freckled man in some way.

"We won't untie him." "Let's untie him then!"

Kuroo and Bokuto look at each other.

"You have a death wish after what happened with the arrows?" Kuroo points at the kitsune with his sword. "This bitch needs his hands to summon his sword, you know."

They stay silent until Bokuto winces when making a small excited hoot. "If he only listens to me, then I can order him to not summon the sword!"

"No." Both Tsukishima and Kuroo say with a deadpan voice.

"I order you to not summon your sword!" Bokuto then walks as fast as he can and with a single movement, he unties the spell. He sees as all of the room tenses up, Kuroo in a fighting stance with his katana as both Yamaguchi and Tsukishima take a step back. Kenma just keeps on chilling on the table. _'At least he trusts my idea'._

The kitsune moves his sore wrist before looking down, slowly taking a hand to his face. The moment his five fingertips touch his mask, it emits an extremely soft glow as it disappears slowly, leaving his face bare. The moment he pulls his hand away, Bokuto takes his wrist and Kuroo mutters something, the hand joining the other with the spell to tie him down.

Bokuto walks the other way, unconsciously clutching his hurt arm close, and he sees as the spirit moves his head up.

He is actually kinda good looking. His eyes are large, hooded, and slightly drooping. Thick eyebrows and pale skin. He rolls his head to the side and cracks his neck, moving his jaw as well.

"Oh, thank god. I though I was going to stay mute forever."His voice is kinda deep, giving Bokuto a little bit of the hibbie jibbies down at his belly.

"Wait." Bokuto turns to Kuroo frowning even more. "So you never spoke because you literally couldn't?"

"Bingo, cat man." He says while continuing to move his jaw. "Gods, am I hungry. Do ya'll have some food around here?"

"You're a spirit..." Tsukishima says from where he is now standing by him and Kuroo.

"Yeah, I think that one fact we all know already. Now could you please give me something to eat. No berries though, I'm allergic."

There's a sound at his left from Kuroo siting down on the sofa with a mumble of "I can't deal with this today."

So it's up to Bokuto, huh?

"You like pretzels?" He walks to the kitchen with the feeling of many pairs of eyes on him.

"Oh, hell yeah man." Bokuto comes back with a bag of long pretzels and offers one to the spirit, and he actually takes it between his lips and starts to chew. "Oh, thez the ones wif cheefe infide."

Tsukishima asks "You can eat?", which leads to Bokuto asking himself: Why is everyone do confused?

"Yeah, could you gimme another one?" He chews on a second and third pretzel before he seems satisfied. "I eat human food in my human form. Spirits in my spirit form."

Tsukishima scoffs. "Well, that clears it up."

The man opens his mouth and Bokuto gives him another pretzel. They all stay in silence as he chews loudly, looking around the room with chill eyes instead of just focusing on Bokuto. He is actually more relaxed where he is sited, slouching as much as he can while having both his hands and feet magically tied.

"What's your name?" Yamaguchi's voice is a little shaky.

"Well, thanks for asking, mate. My name is" he says something that sounds like a whispery yell in the wind.

"In Japanese?" Kuroo swings his katana like a child with a toy wand.

The man rolls his eyes. "Miya Atsumu."

"So, Miya-"

"Oh, please call me Atsumu." He interrupts Kuroo with a cocky smile.

"And why would we do that?" Tsukishima walks backwards to sit beside Kuroo, both with a tired look on their faces. Bokuto sometimes forgets that not everybody can go around not sleeping for a while with no consequences.

"People have always called me that because of my brother." He says with a shrug.

"Your... twin brother?" Bokuto asks a little hesitant.

The man nods with a smile. "Are we still that alike even with the masks?" He says in a teasing way that makes Bokuto smile.

"About the masks, why did you take it off and calmed the fuck down only when Bokuto told you to? That was quite annoying." Kuroo crosses his arms, letting the katana rest beside him. Tsukishima gives the weapon a dirty look and scoots over to the other side where Yamaguchi is resting his arms over the back of the sofa. The blond man glances a little over his shoulder, and Bokuto, with his sharp ass killer vision, manages to see the moment he relaxes and actually leans into the other man's left arm.

"Oh, that. Yeah, vampire man here and master share magic scents."

Kuroo groans. "He has managed to maintain the mix, huh?"

Atsumu lifts an eyebrow and looks at the witch. "Yeah... and now with that flower scent its even weirder. That man really needs to lay down on the soul sucking."

At the mention of the flowers, Kuroo and Bokuto turn to each other. The later man has a look on his face that simply reads worry all over.

"So that's why you have two scents." Tsukki says in a low voice.

"Akaashi's scent." Bokuto whispers.

"Akashi? That's the poor man's name?" All of them, even Kenma, turn to him. "What?"

"It's _Akaashi_, not Akashi." Bokuto says from where he is now pacing around. "And how do you know about him? Where is he?"

The man seems surprised by how Bokuto's voice starts low and serious but then gets louder and more frantic.

"Bo" He hear Kuroo call him, but pays no mind, instead pacing around with stomping feet and worried mumbles. He starts to wonder what Daishou could be doing to Akaashi, the amount of soul he has sucked out of him, or if he has now started with the blood. That worries him more. How much blood can Akaashi lose before going unconscious? Oh gods, how many can he lose before dying? "Bo!"

"Bokuto." Kenma's voice brings him back from his small freak out, now focusing his eyes to what's happening in the room.

"Oh. Sorry." Bokuto looks down and takes a breath, then looking back up to the spirit. "You know where Akaashi is?" His voice is small and low.

Atsumu smiles. "I know, but I can't tell you."

They all frown. "What do you mean by that?" Kuroo says the same moment Tsukishima stands up with a 'ridiculous' and walks to the kitchen. Probably for more of the strawberry milk he brought over some days ago with the excuse that it helps his 'animal instincts at night', but Bokuto thinks that's a excuse to drink it so often.

"Spell bound." He turns his head down to the floor the moment the chains on his ankles appear with a golden glow soft to the eye. "We have rules. I break them, these bitches send me to the spirit world for like a week."

"Stupid Daishou and his black magic." Kuroo stands and goes to the kitchen, Tsukishima crossing his path with a glass and one of those weird dog cookies he seems to love.

"I share that feeling." Atsumu moves one foot slightly and the chains fade away. "That fucker thinks he can take a hold of anything just because he's got a witch's soul inside that aura of his."

Bokuto sits crisscross on the floor. "Wait, wait. Witch's soul?"

Atsumu's smile goes away at that. "What are you so confused over? You've got it as well."

Kuroo stops making sound in the kitchen, and Bokuto has a feeling his friend knows somethings about this. "I... I'll be back. Tsukki, watch him."

"I'm not a guardian dog." He mumbles loudly, but either way he sits on the sofa and frowns over his glass of milk.

Bokuto enters the kitchen and finds his roommate hunched over the pantry. His shoulders tense up when Bokuto leans on the table by the center of the kitchen.

"What did he mean by me and Daishou having witches' souls?"

His friend tenses even more, taking a deep breath before looking over to the liquor cupboard with a weird longing. "I wasn't sure."

Bokuto looks to the side, trying to think more about this but comes up empty handed. "What, that I'm possessed or something? And you didn't tell me?"

Kuroo stays silent and looks to the side.

"W-wait. I'm possessed?!" He yells the words, making Kuroo jump and cover his mouth with both hands.

"You're not-! God." He groans and takes his hands away. "I really didn't want to tell you this to not give you any hope."

"I'm confused."

Kuroo looks out to the living room, and then lowers his voice. "I noticed the witch soul a while ago. I still don't understand how or why or literally anything about it, it's like there's a spell inside you that doesn't let me use my own magic to make a soul and aura reading on you."

Bokuto simply frowns.

"Let's-" Kuroo clears his throat before continuing. "Let's talk this over later. We can try and get some info from Miya out there."

Neither look convinced, but they let all their haunting thoughts get pushed to the side before going back out. They all eye them, probably having heard the conversation. Bokuto lets his eyes wander around the room, not meeting anybody's eyes. He looks to the living room, where Kenma is typing away with his glasses perched on his nose. He turns to him, probably feeling his stare, so Bokuto look the other way, meeting the UNO cards on the floor with some chips and empty cups of coffee. There are some clothes lying here and there, the first aid kit from earlier next to the sofa. Yamaguchi is has his head next to Tsukishima's, both of them having a silent conversation while not taking their eyes away from the kitune tied to the chair.

"So," Atsumu says the moment Bokuto looks at him. "Are you going to help me get rid of all this or not?"

"And why would we do that?" Kuroo sits next to Tsukishima, who now has one of his legs one over the other as he lays back on Yamaguchi's arms. Bokuto feels something pull at his chest when the couple suddenly remind him about his own missing partner and how much he misses him, how much he misses his touch and cuddles and sweet kisses that he paired up with his beautiful words and praises every day they spent together.

"We'll help." Bokuto answers before anyone else says anything. He tries his best to lift his head up to seem confident about his decision, even if there's a bad feeling that tugs at his chest that tells him to not trust the man who basically helped kidnap his boyfriend. "We help you get rid of them and you help us find Keiji."

Atsumu smiles. "It's a deal."

\----------

"Are you always this way."

"What, handsome?"

"Annoying."

Bokuto has come to the conclusion that Atsumu and Tsukishima do not get along at all. And it's been about four hours since the kitsune started talking.

"Can you please pay attention to what I'm saying?" Kuroo has his hair on a tiny ponytail while drinking what is probably his hundredth cup of coffee today. Kenma lays on the sofa clicking away at computer maps and some of his weird programs with Yamaguchi, who looks so tired but insisted on staying awake to help.

"Oh, I'm listening. And my answer is still the same. I don't remember shit."

Bokuto lets his head fall on the table. Having three people with equally strong personalities discussing how to break a spiritual bound is something Bokuto never signed up for.

For these past hours they have been trying to identify the spell Daishou used on Atsumu to bound him to the siren and to this world. Kuroo has brought out about five of his spell books out, even Tsukishima offered to go look for a small book of his that has casual spells, but everything is useless. They just don't understand what Daishou did to be able to make not only one but a pair of twin kitsunes, a very rare pair kind, stay on this realm and obey his orders. Bokuto tried to no vain offering the spells he knows, but nobody can identify what the man used.

"If I hit you in the face would it make you remember?"

"Tsukki, no." Kuroo sounds even more tired than he looks. Koutarou lifts his head from the table and heads to the kitchen, straight to the coffee machine that right now looks like a gift sent from the heavens. Now he understands why Keiji likes it so much.

While heating the left over coffee up, he can't help his mind from wandering, thinking about everything that they know so far and the possibilities of what he has done, what will he do next. _'Daishou couldn't have created his own spell, right? He's not that powerful.'_ He groans as he spills coffee on the table, his injured arm still close to his chest since he keeps on making sudden movements and probably reopening the wound. With a spoon full of sugar and a splash of milk, he turns about to go to the living room with the rest when something catches his eye.

Their fridge is covered with pictures, all from either them all together with other friends, or Bokuto's pictures that don't fit on his own bedroom walls. There are pictures with people that have long passed, some that are of old age, and others that he doesn't really know where they are but still hold a special place in his heart. The amount of magnets holding the pictures are not enough, so some tape here and there hold corners of pictures.

The one that made him stop is one of the oldest ones. Its not even the original picture, but a kind of remake that Kenma did digitally since the one he carried on his pocket was all folded and fading out. Its a picture of him and two of his 'brothers', both bird vampires from back when they had just started to train with their magical abilities. Its him in the center mid laugh while hanging from their shoulders, the man on his left has straight black hair flopping over his eyes, while the one on his right has small spikes like Bokuto's own. That same man is very small, being dragged even farther down by Bokuto's weight.

_Wait_

He takes the picture carefully off the fridge where a penguin magnet holds it up, looking closer to the small man that he is starting to remember he has seen somewhere before. Recently.

"NOYA"

There's a curse from the living room and Kuroo appears on the kitchen door way looking alarmed. "What's wro-" Bokuto almost runs him over where he is rapidly walking to the entrance, but he gets stopped by a strong grip that when turning, he realizes it's Tsukishima.

"Where do you think you're going?" He says with disgust in his face, a little surprise and actual worry showing on his face as well.

Bokuto shoves the picture on his face while pointing at the small man. "Nishinoya was a crow vampire from my troops! He specialized in trapping magic as defense instead of attacks!"

Kuroo walks over with a curious frown. "Didn't you say before that nobody from your troops survived?"

"I know I said that! But he's alive! He came to Akaashi's apartment when he just moved in to install something on the wall." He starts his walk towards the door, opens it, and turns around for the other doorknob. For a moment he hesitates, already feeling Akaashi's scent from out here, but he has to do this. It's a lead.

"Bokuto what-" Tsukishima comes out with Kuroo, both looking very lost as he opens the door with a deep breath.

He tries not to breathe as he walks inside, hurrying to Akaashi's key bowl where he know's Asahi's card is. He finds it and walks out before the other two men can come inside.

Without a word Bokuto walks inside his own apartment and takes the first phone he sees, unlocking it and dialing the number on the card. It rings, and rings, and rings. He is about to take the phone from his ear when there's a click on the other side.

_"Hello?"_

"Asahi?!"

_"W-whoah, who's t-this?"_

Bokuto walks over to the table and sits down next to Atsumu. "It's Bokuto! Do you remember me from when you went to Kei- um, Akaashi's place for the TV thing?"

There's some mumbling on the other side and then a small gasp. _"Oh yeah, I think I remember. You're the guy who talked with Yuu about that volleyball tournament."_

He literally jumps in place, then wincing when his face strains. "Yeah! Yeah that's me! Talking about Noya, is he there?"

More mumbling. _"Oh, y-yeah he's here, would you like me to-"_

"Yes! Um, sorry. Yes, please."

He waits for a little while there's some rustling sound on the phone, and then the smaller man's energetic voice takes over the speaker. _"Bokuto! Hey man!"_

Bokuto may or may not regret his next words. "You're the Guardian."

Silence consumes the phone call for the first time. There's a deep breath before Noya talks again. _"What? I-I don't know what you're talking about."_

He lets nervousness take hold of him for a mere second before he lowers the volume of his voice, been aware that every single person in the room is listening to his conversation. "Don't tell me you don't remember a fellow number four?"

That deafening silence takes hold again before the other man answers in an equally low tone. _"It can't- no. It can't be."_

"Oh, it is." He lets a smile cover his features, even if it causes him pain.

_"The Horned Captain?!"_

He puts the phone in speaker then, laying it on the table for all of them to hear now that he knows that his suspicions were correct. "The one and only."

_"How come I didn't recognize you back then?! Man! What!? I though you got fried in Europe!"_

A snort beside him from Tsukishima. "Well, I am alive. And you are too!" His excitement makes Yamaguchi come over to take a better look at what's happening.

_"Bro, we need to- babe, wait, I'm talking to him-" _There's some stomping and a door closing. _"Sorry! Azumane wanted his phone back, but now I'm hiding in the bathroom." _He seems to try and remember for a second what he was saying before, mumbling something before gasping again. _"So! We need to catch up! Man, I really can't believe I didn't recognize you back then!"_

"Yeah, I actually wanted to know if you could help me with something. Magic related."

_"Tell me your address and I'll obviously be there in a second, bro!"_

Bokuto dictates their address and then says bye to Noya as he promises to be there in about fifteen minutes. When they hang up, the place is silent. Of course Tsukki is the one to break it.

"Can you explain now?"

He jumps. "Oh, right! Noya is a crow fukuro who knows about binding magic and summoning and all that. He studied the same as Daishou in camp."

That dreaded silence again. "So," Kuroo sits next to him. "you think he will know how to unbind Atsumu?"

Bokuto nods, finally feeling like this is starting to go well for the first time in a very long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title of the chapter is a song by Keren Ann!!!
> 
> Make sure to check out Suguru's [Tumblr blog](https://suguru.tumblr.com/), and if you want to chat here's [mine!](https://is-a-bell-tmblr.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Here's the link to the fic's [playlist!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4YAnv5HBcFCg6Uf5CSeHUM)


	17. It's too late

Nishinoya arrived ten minutes after their call. He entered the apartment with such speed that not even Bokuto got to stand his ground when the significantly smaller man came running towards him and tackled him down to the sofa where he was playing cards with Atsumu and Yamaguchi. He hugs him close, now understanding who he is. The only thing not letting him fully embrace Noya is his injured arm that still twitches when he tries to stretch it. 

"I knew I recognized you! You're alive! How? Where have you been? Weren't you in Europe? They told me you dissapeared in Europe and I thought you were dead, man!" Noya looks him over, at his spiked hair, his eyes, his still naked torso. Bokuto can tell he is trying his best at remembering him from back then, or he probably doesn't believe they are both alive and reunited, something that it's still processing inside his brain.

"I think it would be better if the two of you caught up later," They both turn to Kuroo, who is standing with Asahi by the table where Kenma is still hacking into cameras around the suspected warehouse. "right now we need you for something, mister thunder." 

Noya stands with a snort and offers Bokuto his hand, lifting him up with care to not hurt his healing injuries. Bokuto can see a second of worry on his face when Noya looks over the cut that goes all along his face, but in a second the ball of joy is jumping over the sofa to go to the table where Kuroo will explain to him Atsumu's situation. Bokuto asked them all to not tell him Akaashi has been kidnapped, since he knows that Noya will try to be part of the team. He would love to have him closer and catch up, but seeing the nervousness with which Azumane is carrying himself, Bokuto decides to not involve them further. 

"Hey, Bokuto." He turns and finds Yamaguchi looking defeated, Atsumu smiling cockily. He probably won the game, oh boomer. "That small boy is going to help me get rid of these?" 

"Yes! Or at least I hope so." Bokuto stands and arches his back in a stretch. "He studied with Daishou, so." 

"You are aware that he uses black magic now, right?" 

He shrugs. "They studied the same basics, right? I guess its like math, like we all learn the same in school but, I don't know, architects and people like Kuroo use it differently because they learnt different things in university." 

"That's actually a good analogy." 

Bokuto smiles. "Thanks!" He walks to the table where the rest are gathered, going to sit on the place next to Kenma. He sees the man is tense in his chair, his legs folded under him as he types away at his laptop, the tablet at his right and a desktop in front of him. Kenma squints at the screen through his glasses, his eyes red from strain and tiredness. Bokuto feels bad for making him do all this, but when he asked him to take a break, Kenma said that he needed to keep on going. He has been even more quiet than usual, and if Kuroo didn't force him to eat, then he would have passed out by now. By how Kenma is working so hard without a single break, from what Kuroo has told him that's something he has not done since high school. Bokuto hasn't said anything yet, but he can tell Kenma feels guilty about this. He crashed the car and was unconscious as Akaashi tried to run away, just to get kidnapped by the person they have managed to avoid all this time. 

If Bokuto knows something about guilt, is that it can eat you up, making every little thing remember you of what happened, making the scene play out in your head over and over again. He knows Kenma is trying to distract himself from that feeling by overworking himself, and Bokuto is fully aware that he will not be able to stop him. So he lets him be. When he sits down beside him, he rests his hand on Kenma's shoulder for a second, squeezing it in a comforting manner that makes Kenma untense his shoulders as he looks at Bokuto, his frown going away for a second to shoot a grateful glance. Bokuto smiles as best as he can without overwhelming the smaller man, and then the moment is over. He turns to the rest of people in the table to listen to their conversation. 

"Chain bound? That's not a spell, it's a curse!" Noya looks down at all the things Kuroo and Tsukishima had written down about the things Atsumu said regarding the chains. There's also some of Kuroo's books, but Noya knows better than to touch a witch's things without the owner allowing him first. "Curses are way stronger than spells, and they have a very specific cure."

"Do you know it?" Tsukki seems restless for one of the first times these past two weeks, his leg bopping and his eyes red as he glares at Noya. Bokuto knows that the werewolf probably hasn't shifted in a while, which feels like shit, so he understands why he refuses to stay still or do nothing. Compared to how he had been when this all started, he is cooperating way more than all of them thought.

"Of course I know it! I know it all! Let me take a look at the guy and I'll be able to tell you which curse and its cure."

"Hey,Tadashi!" Tsukishima says in a strong voice that still has a soft tone, as always when he speaks to the freckled man. "Come here, and bring Atsumu with you."

Yamaguchi, who they all assigned to keep the kitsune man entertained in case he tried something weird, stands up and makes Atsumu stand with him from an arm. The fake blond seems a little uncomfortable walking with more chains that the ones he already possesses, but they really had no other choice than to bound him with real chains that Kuroo had casually lying around so that he could move a little more freely.

"You called for me?" Atsumu does that cockily smile of his that Bokuto is starting to get used to and then he is sat down, Kuroo bounding him to the chair just as before. "Hey! I thought we were past the chair thing?"

"I like you better when you're restrained." Kuroo says with a smirk as he leans down to bound his arms and feet to the different parts of the chair. When he gets to the floor, he takes a key from his pocket and takes off the physical chains around his ankles, probably to let the others show.

"Kitsune guard spirit from a mountain? How the hell did they curse you." Noya barks out a laugh as Atsumu tries his best at kicking him , which just makes the chair jump a little to the side.

"can you hurry up?" Tsukishima sighs, taking his glasses off to rub at his nose and temples.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry glasses." Noya receives a glare from the blond man but just smiles back. "Well! Show me those dreaded chains!"

Atsumu closes his eyes for second longer than normal and then the chains materialize around his ankles, pooling around his feet.

"Oh, jeez. Its a spirit possession curse. Those are nasty." Noya leans over the table to look at the chains a little bit closer. "Or it could probably be a spirit bound curse, it depends."

"Depends on what?" Kuroo looks at him , the doof probably hasn't ever heard of those curses before. Bokuto has to quiet down a laugh at that.

"Well, can you use your magic?"

They all turn to Atsumu, who had discovered a humid spot in the ceiling and was tracing it with his eyes. When he feels them watching him, he looks down at their faces a little surprised. "What?"

"He asked if you can use your magic." Yamaguchi says from his side.

"Oh, I can shift and manifest weapons. But I can't do nothing else rather than that."

"You are more powerful that thin?!" Bokuto straightens, a little surprised at that. Atsumu lets out a laugh.

"Well yeah, sweetheart. I can shift realities and do some pretty little tricks with my magic."

Before Bokuto can ask more, Noya interrupts with "You can't teleport?"

"Not without the master's presence." Atsumu moves his head back to look at the ceiling again, his posture stiff from lack of free movement.

"Do you know how to break it?" Kuroo looks down at Noya, their height difference a little funny.

"I can try. But we need to go outside."

"Wait, what? If we go outside Daishou will find us. We're protecting with a spell in the apartment." Kuroo clarifies, he takes a step back and looks to the sealed balcony doors. "The balcony enough?"

Noya shrugs. "Sure." He walks to the doors with Kuroo for him to take the spell back from the doors. When they open, Noya looks up to the sky and then back at them at the table. "I hope none of you are scared of thunder."

"Thunder?" Tsukishima looks at Bokuto for answers as they take Atsumu closer to Noya. Bokuto simply smiles at him as in a way saying 'you'll see'.

They leave them both standing in th balcony, the rest of them a few steps back, since no one but Bokuto and probably Asahi know Noya's magic potential. They all observe as Noya closes his eyes and moves his fingertips to touch Atsumu's temples, squeecing a little as he takes a deep breath. He starts to chant some things under his breath, repeating them each time a little bit louder. About two minutes of him chanting have gone by, when he opens his eyes wide. They glow with a white light that starts to appear around Atsumu as well, but his a little fainter. Then, Noya looks up and says something Bokuto has never noticed he missed.

"Here comes the Rolling Thunder!"

Then there's a extremely loud thunder that make them all cover their ears, and a second later the light that glowed from them both went away. Noya pulls his hands aways from Atsumu's head, and as he does so, the white light from before gets taken over a golden light by the floor. They all see as Atsumu's chains start to rot, breaking and pulverizing around him. The last that stays are the huge clasps around his ankles. When those start to disappear, Atsumu winces and looks down. The skin around the clasps becomes red and looks as if its burning and scarring at the same time. Then, after Atsumu has let out a thousand profanities in more than one language, the chains disappear completely.

"Did you do it?" Bokuto is the first to approach, followed by a timid Asahi. When they both get there, Bokuto realizes Noya has become a little pale, and has circles around his eyes. He is also out of breath and holding on to the balcony railing as if to not fall to the floor, or down all the way to the road.

"I hope so." Noya frowns in an out of character seriousness. Asahi gets to his side and offers help, Noya stares at his arms for a second before holding them to straighten up.

"Yuu?" Asahi says in a worried voice. Noya smiles up at him.

"I'm fine, just out of practice."

Bokuto frowns at that. Even if he was out of practice, he should feel and look this out of shape from a simple curse-breaking. Bokuto decides to do what he wanted to do since Noya came through that door. He lets his magic instincts take hold, taking a huge breath in Noya's direction. He expects the static feel and caramel smell, but comes empty handed, barely sniffing at a caramel scent as if it has been gone for a while.

"You're not a va-"

"It worked!" Atsumu's voice comes from the living room, and Bokuto turns to see that he has shifted from the chair to the sofa. Kuroo has his katana out in an instant, Yamaguchi and Tsukishima on guard behind him. "Hey, hey! There's no need to feel so threatened! I promised I wuld help you." He tilts his head to the side, a kind of obscure expression taking over his features for a second. "And a spirit never breaks their promises."

Bokuto takes one last glance at Noya, who is slowly looking a little more colorful as he drinks from something Asahi gave him. A small flask with a thunderbolt engraved. He decides to ask Noya about this matter later and walks to where the rest are standing, his skin itching a little from the sun rays passing through the cloudy sky. When he get to all of them, Atsumu stretching his extremities as Kuroo takes some strategically placed steps to the side to round the sofa, Bokuto walks straight to Atsumu.

"You're free!" He says with a smile, feeling the scar tissue forming at his cheek pull.

Atsumu turns his head to him and smiles genuinely. "Oh, man. I have so much to tell you about that fucking bastard."

\----------

Akaashi has woken up three times, and every single one he felt like shit.

The first time he was tied to a bed post on what he couls barely see was a hotel room. He felt tired and beaten over, all of his right side ached and when trying to move his face he found that it was hard to do so from the sting of a cut on his cheek. He tried moving around, but his limbs where almost dead, he had no feeling and couldn't move them. For some reason he could tell it was from a spell, he felt the same energy as when Kuroo gave his the protection spells.

There was noise outside for a second, and the moment the door opened, he felt as if the energy he had left was sucked from him as a flowery smell invaded the room, then he passed out.

The next time he woke up, he was in a wider space and strapped to a chair. His neck hurt from it hanging when he was unconscious. Akaashi is not sure for how long he has been here or this way, but from the hunger he has and the lack of energy he can tell it has been at least a few days or a week.

As his eyes get used to the dark, he is able to identify a table with a lot of stuff next to him. There are flasks that shine with a strange light, and that flower scent from last time is here as well, accompanied by a smell of sweet vanilla that feels familiar.

As he continues to scan the place, he realizes there is something laying by his feet, as if guarding him. As he squint to focus more, the lump takes form and he discovers its one of the foxes from before. He looks like the grey one, since there is no shine to his fur.

He looks up when there is a sound by what he thinks is the door. He tries to move a little but feels his arms stinging. When he looks down, he finds what can only be bite marks and cuts on his forearm, all strategically positioned so that the bites are over his veins, and the cuts are away from them.

None of them bleed, but the do sting a lot. He is trying to look hlw far up they go when the sound by the door strikes again, making even the fox lifts its head.

Akaashi half closes his eyes as the door slightly opens, the figure of a lanky man stepping in. When he gets closer, Akaashi fully closes his eyes. He feels movement by his right, were the desk is. Then there's a hissing sound and he, once again, feels everything drain from him and he falls asleep again.

The third and last time he wakes, there is light and a conversation going on.

"-you mean you shot him down?"

"I didn't shoot him down. He got to his apartment so I couldn't follow."

The first voice is one he knows too well now. Daishou.

But the other is quieter, and sounds as if the owner is bored.

"Well, let's wait until one of them come out. Maybe we could find Keiji some company." Daishou steps closer, making Akaashi go limp to fake being unconscious. He then feels delicate fingers trail through his arm, suddenly stopping near the forearm. "He hasn't healed from last time."

Akaashi has to then supress a wince when those same fingers press of what feels like a deep cut on his arm, near his wrist. Its a pulsating pain that crawls all the way to his shoulder, and he can't help but tense a little at the feeling it causes.

"Probably because ye keep on suckin' the life out of him?" A new voice.

"Shut up, Osamu."

"Whatever."

He hears steps all over from the three men in the room. Slowly some steps fade away, but he can tell there's someone near.

"I can't believe he fell for yer act." The third voice, Osamu, says from below.

Akaashi dares to slightly open one eye, just to find a fox laying by his feet. He looks around, trying to find the source, but the only one remaining in the room is the giant silver fox on the floor.

"Don't worry, he can't hear you out there. He soundproofed the room since you wouldn't stop making weird sounds when unconscious."

After one last look around, Akaashi clears his throat and looks at the fox, the only place where the voice could come from.

"Where am I?" His voice is croaky and it hurts when he speaks. He can also feel a pull on his right cheek and neck, as if there is some kind of injury or scar tissue that obstructs his movements.

"Do I look like I know where we are?"

The fox turns around and looks at him with those brown eyes, and after a second of light, there is a man sitting there.

"I'm Osamu."

"Akaashi"

"I know."

They stay silent after that. Osamu simply sitting, looking at him, while Akaashi looks around the place now that there is some light source.

The table next to them is still full of thing Akaashi doesn't know the purpose of. There are some syringes, some bottles of what he can only guess is his blood (no wonder he was unconscious most of the time), around five scalpels, two from them being dirty. His stomach turns at the sight of his own blood, stored and splashed in many places. That's when he remembers his arm and how it had stinged before, but a secons later he regrets even looking at his arm.

(TW: scars and deep cuts on forearm)

On his right arm there where countless small and long cuts, all strategically placed to not cut through main veins. Some cuts were wide open but not bleeding, while others were sealed and almost totally covered in scar tissue. The places the cut evaded had bite marks on them, the veins a dark color at how they have probably being manipulated and strained to obtain blood from it. He dares to look at his other arm, thankfully finding an IV and some other tubes he does not know how or why they work.

"Nasty, huh? Thankfully you weren't awake when he did those, THAT'S worst to look at."

Akaashi looks at the man in front of him, finding an unexpected pure look of worry mixed with disgust.

"Why would he do this?"

"Because he's mad obsessed with that owl guy."

"With Bokuto?"

Osamu nods. "I don't know if something happened between them, but he has a literal obsession with the taste of his aura to the point of literally going mad when he ran out. He's nearing that stage again since you're running out of him too."

"What do you mean by that?" They both stop for a second when there is a sound near the door, but when nothing comes next the tension leaves.

"Well, you are , well were, bonded with the owl guy. Daishou somehow found a way to suck the part of him out of ye. Hence the cuts and blood." Akaashi makes a face at that. "He ran many tests and shit to find the right method to suck his soul out of you. I think in the end he discovered that the owl's blood comes out easier when you get hurt. It's like he's trying to heal ya or something."

While he talks, Akaashi sees his eyes sometimes travel to his right cheek and to his neck, which makes him think that he probably does have something on his face.

"Are there other injuries on me?"

Osamu leans back on his arms and extends his long legs in front of him, almost touching Akaashi's ankles where they are tied to the chair.

"Apart from the broken wrist from the crash and a nasty cut on your face from when you dropped dead, nope."

Akaashi frowns and tried to move his wrist, finding that it does hurt to move even a little and it has some swelling on the sides.

"Osamu!"

Both of them freeze at the voice, Akaashi looking up to the door as the man shifts back to his fox form. He's got no time to fake being passed out when the door opens and there he stands, with his long legs and controlling yellow eyes.

"Oh, you're awake."

Akaashi has to force himself to look to the side and try to block that luring voice out of his head. Daishou steps closer and takes his jaw between his cold fingers, gripping it to force Akaashi to look at him.

"I guess you're curious about what I do to you." He lets go of his face and turns to the table to grab a clean scalpel off the table. "Let me show you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is song by Carole King!!!


End file.
